Close to 10,000 people were lined up virtually before 8 a.m. to buy vehicle reservations on the Vineyard route this summer.

Stepping into the new year, the Steamship Authority has a lot on its plate, from filling its top two positions to balancing the shifting travel patterns.

The 5:30 a.m. freight departure from Vineyard Haven is back in business for the next couple of months, after regulatory complications pushed back planned dock work at the Steamship Authority terminal until this fall.

A four-person committee of Steamship Authority governing board and port council members will interview four executive search firms for the job of finding a new general manager to replace Robert Davis.

Chilmark select board chair James Malkin will have been a select board member for three terms by the time he steps down in April.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Wednesday pulled the draft rules, which would have lowered the speed limit for boats across the East Coast, cutting ferry service to the Vineyard.

Gov. Maura Healey is calling on federal regulators to amend a new proposal that could drastically cut ferry service to the Vineyard and Nantucket.

The MV SSA Citizens’ Action Group, a loose coalition of Vineyarders and mainland residents, had its first meeting last week to talk about their frustrations with the ferry system.