Military veterans from towns served by the Steamship Authority are newly eligible for half-price passenger fares, following a unanimous vote of the boat line’s governing board on Tuesday morning.

“We are confident that it is the right thing for the Steamship Authority to do for this valued group of individuals,” general manager Alex Kryska wrote in a summary for board members.

The boat line’s advisory port council unanimously recommended the move earlier this month.

To take part in the half-fare program, veterans will submit an application to the Steamship Authority reservation office, similar to the form used by senior citizens, with proofs of residence and of military service.

Bad conduct and dishonorable discharges will not qualify for half-price fares.

The Vineyard has about 1,100 veterans and another 300 live on Nantucket, Mr. Kryska wrote in his summary.

Many of them already are eligible for half-price fares because they are senior citizens, he noted.

If all 1,400 Island veterans made one round trip each month, Mr. Kryska estimated it would cost the Steamship Authority $27,700 a year.     

That figure doesn’t include mainland-based veterans, who also are eligible to apply for the half-price fares if they live in the towns of Falmouth and Barnstable or the city of New Bedford.

At Tuesday’s meeting, board member Robert Jones said he wished the boat line could do even more for those who served.

“As a veteran, I can’t help but lean that all veterans deserve that type of discount,” Mr. Jones said.

The board also authorized priority bookings for military honor guards traveling to veterans’ funerals, with the cost borne by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs or individual service branches.