Report: Steamship Authority 'Penny Pinching' Agency, Lacks Vision

WOODS HOLE, MA – A new report released Monday says the Steamship Authority lacks vision, is frugal to a fault and is a step behind its issues. The 140-page review from outside consultants was commissioned to determine what contributed to the service's frequent mechanical troubles, which forced mass cancelations and stranded some passengers at sea this year.

According to Seattle-based HMS Consulting and Technical, the Steamship Authority's focus on frugality has led to a narrow vision among leadership. The lack of a clear vision has resulted in "competing factions" within the company.

"This appears in regular interactions between various departments and individuals, resulting in different factions undermining and working against each other at the expense of the organization’s performance," according to the report.

Frugality comes up multiple times in the report. Consultants say management's "penny pinching" has led to understaffing in key technical roles – which has contributed to ferry problems – and in upper management. There is also a lack of focus on safety, the report alleges, citing the absence of a safety management system or comprehensive safety manual and the reliance on the U.S. Coast Guard's minimum requirements as the "de facto standards for safety and quality assurance."

The service must also hold itself more accountable and learn from its mistakes, according to HMS. The consultants' analysis of the March 17 blackout on the M/V Martha's Vineyard, which stranded 72 people, found 21 individual issues.

"The identification and correction of just one of the twenty-one issues mentioned above may have prevented the incident entirely," the report states. While there were no serious injuries in the incident, had the blackout happened minutes later when the boat was docking, "the consequences could have been dire," according to the report.

The Steamship Authority needs to alter its "reactive" culture to determine the root cause of an issue versus the immediate cause, HMS argues. It recommends a number of upgrades – bigger infrastructure investments, a system of accountability for upper management and giving workers the tools and training to succeed – which would cost an estimated $1 million.

But it's not all bad news for the Steamship Authority. HMS commends the company for operating without public subsidies for the majority of the last 50 years and argues that the company remains committed to quality service.

While the organization is successful in many areas, "unfortunately the public perception is perhaps ill-informed and not properly managed," according to the report.

In a statement Monday, Steamship Authority General Manager Robert Davis thanked the consultants and said the service will determine which recommendations to implement and when.

"The process of hiring HMS Consulting to perform this study was born from one of the most challenging periods in the Authority’s history, but I believe that our operations will benefit from the insight contained in the final product," Davis said.

Read the full report below:

Photo: The Steamship Authority ferry "Nantucket." (Credit: Steamship Authority)