The Steamship board of governors this week learned that the chances of a new reservation system before 2026 grow increasingly remote, and it will likely require broad organizational changes across several departments. 

The Steamship Authority plans to halt advertising on its ferries after a PETA ad ruffled feathers with fishermen and boat line officials. 

A call from lawmakers thousands of miles from the Vineyard’s shores could spare the Island from new marine speed restrictions that would result in ferry service cuts.

The ferry line board of governors Thursday approved a $17 million retrofit of a former offshore oil vessel. The ferry, which will be called the M/V Monomoy, will eventually join two other newly converted freight vessels that are set to join the Steamship fleet later this year. 

The Steamship Authority board of governors voted this week to tie upcoming salary increases for its 100 or so non-union staffers to the weighted average of pay raises for unionized workers.

Select board chair Gail Barmakian invited Robert Davis to the board’s Tuesday meeting after Oak Bluffs wasn’t notified about the potential of 41 North Offshore using the Steamship’s Oak Bluffs terminal to ship freight and heavy equipment to and from New Bedford.

The rocky start to summer is emblematic of the Steamship Authority’s staffing woes, several Steamship employees said, and on any given day ferries can be one sick-day away from being tied up at the docks.

The Steamship Authority Tuesday said it is dropping the Sankaty's three daily weekday round trips on the Vineyard route amid a shortage of qualified crew members.