Seastreak is looking to run its winter service again this year, but this time out of Oak Bluffs.

The ferry company began a commuter service last fall, running between New Bedford and Vineyard Haven. Although it operated at a loss, according to James Barker, the vice president of sales and marketing at Seastreak, the company wants the service to grow.

“We continued to gain riders throughout the season. Now this year, we’d like to do it again,” Mr. Barker told the Oak Bluffs select board on Tuesday. “We think that there is a future in it, especially because there is a new train station coming to New Bedford…we don’t want to end the service this winter and lose all the momentum that we’ve gained.” 

The company is looking to move the service to Oak Bluffs this year because construction is planned for the Steamship Authority terminal in Vineyard Haven. The terminal was down to one slip last year, causing delays for both boat lines.

The Oak Bluffs select board granted Seastreak permission to use the town dock after a discussion about the potential schedule and what approvals the ferry company still needed to gain.

Mr. Barker suggested that the ferry would run twice a day during the week, the first boat docking in Oak Bluffs at 7 a.m. and the second at 4 p.m. Return boats to New Bedford would leave 40 minutes after docking. He also said that Seastreak would like to run one trip a day during the weekends, although that has not been formalized.

Select board member Mark Leonard asked Mr. Barker to include additional trips around Island events, such as the Christmas lighting, to bring in tourists during the offseason. Mr. Barker said that Seastreak was already looking into the possibility of running extra ferries around Christmas in Edgartown.

The select board also discussed the fees that Seastreak would have to pay in order to use the town dock. Due to the size of its ferries, the company will have to pay embarkation fees. The board also discussed a fee for using the town dock, but decided to set it later after reviewing the contracts of other companies to find a fair price.

After the affirmative vote from the select board Tuesday, Seastreak still needs to get approval from the Steamship Authority.