The Steamship Authority is promising improvements in the ferry line’s recordkeeping after paperwork and administrative lapses forced the company to abruptly pull two vessels out of service this month. 

There were several delays and cancellations on the Vineyard route Saturday after the M/V Island Home was taken out of service due to an expired radiotelephony certification. The certificate is required by the Federal Communications Commission to operate commercial vessels and aircraft.

Steamship general manager Alex Kryska explained the licensing issue in a letter to customers Sunday, and vowed that the ferry line would take steps to ensure it doesn’t happen again. 

“I know Saturday was a frustrating day for our customers, and it was for our staff, too,” he wrote. “But we will learn and improve from these incidents and, ultimately, become a stronger organization.”

Steamship marine and engineering staff learned of the lapsed certificate during a review of the fleet’s regulatory paperwork, according to the letter. That review was initiated earlier this month after the M/V Monomoy, one of the new freight boats plying the Nantucket route, had to be taken out of service because it had missed its quarterly inspection schedule with the U.S. Coast Guard. 

Mr. Kryska said there was no mechanical defect with the Island Home and the Steamship Authority is working to get a new radio certificate for the Island home from the Federal Communications Commission. He estimated that the ferry wouldn’t be back on the Vineyard route until Tuesday at the earliest.

The ferry line sent the M/V Martha’s Vineyard from the Fairhaven vessel maintenance facility Saturday afternoon to take the Island Home’s place. But that ferry can’t carry as many vehicles, causing delays for travelers. 

“I’ll be frank: it’s unacceptable that two vessels in as many weeks have been sidelined by what are, essentially, paperwork issues,” Mr. Kryska wrote in the letter to customers. “I’m angry about it, as are many of our staff members, but it’s also an opportunity for us to improve how we do business.”

The Island Home’s lapsed radio certificate was the only item out of compliance found during the review of the fleet’s paperwork. 

“We’re entering all these regulatory deadlines in a central database for tracking, and we will leverage our internal communications systems in a more efficient way to be sure multiple staff members are notified of their status well in advance of their expiration,” Mr. Kryska wrote.