Steamship Authority facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Woods Hole, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority d/b/a The Steamship Authority
The MV Sankaty docked at the authority's terminal in Woods Hole
Info
Locale	Southeastern Massachusetts
Transit type	Ferry
Number of lines	2
Chief executive	Robert B. Davis (General Manager)
Headquarters	Falmouth, MA (regulatory body) Woods Hole, MA (ferry service)
Operation
Began operation	1960 (1960)
Number of vehicles	10 ferry vessels

The Woods Hole, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority, also known as The Steamship Authority (SSA), is a special group that manages all ferry boat trips between mainland Massachusetts and the islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. They also run their own ferry services.

The SSA is the only ferry company that can carry cars to and from these islands. They also operate large boats for shipping goods. This makes them a very important link for moving almost everything to and from the islands, especially things that don't go by plane.

History of Island Ferries

How Ferry Service Began

The Steamship Authority's former terminal in Woods Hole, which was removed in 2018.

The story of The Steamship Authority started way back in 1833. That's when the Nantucket Steamboat Company was created.

People wanted more regular steamship service between Cape Cod and Nantucket. This demand grew after a railroad station opened in Hyannisport in 1854. That same year, the company built a ferry terminal near the train station. They then changed their name to the Nantucket and Cape Cod Steamboat Company.

Their two ships, Telegraph and Massachusetts, started sailing only to Hyannis. This was a shorter trip than going to Woods Hole and New Bedford. In 1855, these ships were replaced by the Island Home. This was the company's first ship made especially for the waters of Nantucket Sound.

Connecting Martha's Vineyard

Another company, the New Bedford, Vineyard and Nantucket Steamboat Company, started in 1854. They offered service between New Bedford, Martha's Vineyard, and Woods Hole. Their ship was called the Eagle's Wing. However, when the Island Home service began in 1885, Eagle's Wing stopped going to Nantucket. Not enough people were using that route.

When the train station opened in Woods Hole in 1872, it also changed how people used steamships. For a while, both the railroad and the early ferry services were owned by the same company, the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad.

Becoming a State-Owned Service

In 1945, the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad sold its ferry services. These were known as the New England Steamship Company. Then, in 1948, the state of Massachusetts decided to take over these private ferry services.

This led to the creation of the New Bedford, Woods Hole, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority in 1949. In 1960, the state removed "New Bedford" from the company's name. The last steam-powered ship in regular use was the Nobska. It sailed the Woods Hole–Nantucket route until 1973.

Many of the current ferry names are old names used for ships that served the islands for many years. For example, the name "Nantucket" has been used for four different ships over time. The same is true for "Martha's Vineyard," which has been used for three vessels. Other current ships like the MV Island Home, MV Sankaty, and MV Gay Head also share names with older steamships.

Ferry Services Today

The Steamship Authority offers important ferry services to both Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket.

Martha's Vineyard Ferries

You can take passenger and car ferries to Vineyard Haven on Martha's Vineyard all year round. During the summer, from Memorial Day to Labor Day, ferries also go to Oak Bluffs. These ferries leave from Woods Hole on the mainland.

The trip to both Vineyard Haven and Oak Bluffs takes about 45 minutes.

In 2001, the SSA bought a ship called the MV Schamonchi. This ship provided passenger-only service from New Bedford to Martha's Vineyard for a few years. Now, a faster passenger-only boat, a catamaran, runs this route. It goes from New Bedford to Vineyard Haven all year, and to Oak Bluffs in the summer.

Nantucket Ferries

Year-round passenger, car, and freight ferry service is available to Nantucket. These ferries leave from Hyannis, Massachusetts on the mainland. The trip to Nantucket takes about 2 hours and 15 minutes.

There's also a faster, passenger-only catamaran called the MV Iyanough. It takes about one hour to get to Nantucket from Hyannis. This service runs from mid-April through late December.

How The Steamship Authority Regulates Ferries

Besides running its own ferries, the Steamship Authority also helps manage other ferry operations to and from the islands. This is why it's called an "Authority."

By law, any scheduled passenger ferry that carries over 40 people to the islands must be approved by the Steamship Authority. This rule means that other ferry companies usually can't offer services that would directly compete with the SSA. This gives the SSA a special right to be the only company carrying cars to the islands.

However, the SSA has approved other companies to run smaller passenger-only ferries. These include:

• Freedom Cruises (from Harwich Port to Nantucket)
• SeaStreak (from New Bedford to Oak Bluffs and Nantucket)
• Rhode Island Fast Ferry (from North Kingstown, Rhode Island to Oak Bluffs)
• The Pied Piper Edgartown Ferry (from Falmouth to Edgartown)

Some older ferry services, like Hy-Line Cruises and the Island Queen, can still operate certain routes. This is because they existed before the current rules were put in place. But any new services must get a license from the Authority.

How The Steamship Authority is Managed

The Steamship Authority is run by a board of five people. Each person on the board lives in a different town: Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard, Falmouth, Barnstable, and New Bedford. Their local governments approve each board member. The current head of the board is James Malkin from Martha's Vineyard.

There's also an advisory board called the Port Council. It has members from Barnstable, Fairhaven, Falmouth, Nantucket, New Bedford, Oak Bluffs, and Tisbury. This council gives advice to the main board.

The Steamship Authority Fleet

The Steamship Authority currently has ten vessels, which are their ships.

• Six of these are passenger ferries. They mainly carry people and personal items. Five of these can also carry cars and trucks.
• The other four ferries are open-top. They are mostly used for large trucks and freight. However, regular passengers and cars can usually ride on them if there's space.

All the vessels are kept in good condition at a special facility in Fairhaven, Massachusetts.

Image	Vessel	Service began	Type	Route(s) served	Notes
	MV Nantucket	1974	ROPAX	Hyannis–Nantucket (winters) Woods Hole–Martha's Vineyard (year-round)	Built in Jacksonville
	MV Eagle	1987	ROPAX	Hyannis–Nantucket (year-round)	Built by McDermott Shipyard (Morgan City)
	MV Katama	1988	Freight	Woods Hole–Martha's Vineyard	Sister ship of MV Gay Head
	MV Gay Head	1989	Freight	Hyannis–Nantucket	Sister ship of MV Katama
	MV Martha's Vineyard	1993	ROPAX	Woods Hole–Martha's Vineyard (year-round)	Built by Atlantic Marine (Jacksonville)
	MV Sankaty	1994	Freight	Woods Hole–Martha's Vineyard	Built in 1981 by Rysco Shipyard
	MV Governor	1998	Freight	Woods Hole–Martha's Vineyard	Backup passenger vessel, formerly Governor's Island ferry
	MV Island Home	2007	ROPAX	Woods Hole–Martha's Vineyard (year-round)	Built by VT Halter Marine (Moss Point)
	MV Iyanough	2007	Passenger	Hyannis–Nantucket (summers)	High-speed catamaran, built by Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding (Somerset), named after Hyannis sachem Iyannough
	MV Woods Hole	2016	ROPAX	Hyannis–Nantucket (summers) Woods Hole–Martha's Vineyard (year-round)	Built by Conrad Shipyard (Morgan City)

Important Events and Challenges

The Steamship Authority has faced some challenges over the years.

In 2007, it was found that some ferries were releasing waste into Nantucket Sound. Even though it was allowed by law if the boats were far enough from shore, the Authority decided to change this. By 2011, they started pumping all waste off the ferries at their terminals instead.

In early 2018, many ferry trips were cancelled due to mechanical problems with the boats. This was much higher than the usual number of cancellations. A special expert was brought in to find out why. They found that there were some management issues and different groups within the organization that weren't working well together.

On June 16, 2017, the Iyanough ferry crashed into a jetty (a stone wall) in Hyannis harbor. Fifteen people out of 57 on board were hurt.

The Steamship Authority was also hit by a ransomware attack on June 2, 2021. This type of cyber attack affected their ticket and reservation system. The Authority did not pay the ransom, and their website was back up and running by June 12.