The Steamship Authority is proposing to raise its rates for the second year in a row to offset a projected $3 million budget shortfall, but most Island residents and walk-on commuters would be spared from the increases.
The shallow harbor in Hyannis recently caused one Steamship ferry to go out for emergency repairs and officials are pushing for new harbor dredging.
The Steamship Authority is updating its staff training program following an internal investigation of last month’s accident in Woods Hole, where the M/V Sankaty came loose from its slip.
With its borrowing limit increased by $50 million in the new state budget, the Steamship Authority now has the financial headroom to add a fourth ship to its growing fleet of identical former oilfield supply vessels, which the ferry line is converting into freight ferries.
Two Steamship Authority ferries, M/V Gay Head and M/V Nantucket, are out of service for the weekend, although the Nantucket is expected to be back in action Sunday night.
The Sankaty broke loose around 5 p.m. and drifted into the neighboring Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution dock, the Steamship Authority said.
