Steamship Authority charts path forward

In the wake of a state report that pointed out deficiencies at the Steamship Authority, the new general manager has charted a course forward in order to restore confidence in the ferry system. 

At the Steamship Authority Board meeting on Tuesday morning, Alex Kryska, general manager of the ferry line, presented an 18-month draft plan to the five-person board addressing different areas for improvement, including leadership structure, financial planning, and transparency. 

“This is the initial stepping off point,” Kryska said. 

Kryska’s draft plan is a development of the improvements he vowed to implement during his first board meeting appearance last month. That declaration was in response to a scathing report released in December by the state Inspector General’s Office on the failure of the Steamship Authority’s now shelved website project, including the board’s lack of oversight on spending, which the state agency estimated wasted between $2 million and $4 million in public funds. Kryska’s draft plan announcement also follows recent informational sessions that were held on Feb. 11 and Feb. 12 on proposed changes to the new reservation system that is under development. 

Kryska said he’s “really digging into what the job of general manager is for the Steamship Authority” and has been conducting one-on-one meetings with managers in the ferry line. This was a part of the “immediate actions” Kryska wanted to take in the next 90 days, which also include solidifying who makes certain decisions in the ferry line, standardizing templates for the board to use for reporting, and improving “financial controls, planning, and transparency.”

“It takes me back to ‘Shrek,’” Kryska said, referencing the 2001 DreamWorks movie. “There’s a lot of layers to this onion, and you’ve got to peel it apart and figure out where everything is, who’s in charge of what.” 

Kryska admitted the plan was “fairly aggressive,” and some board members noted it may be beneficial to stretch out the deadline goals more. 

“It’s pretty compressed with a lot of stuff,” said Jim Malkin, Martha’s Vineyard board representative. “Set yourself up for success, and let’s do it right.” 

The board is also addressing other concerns raised in the report, such as a need to review the Enabling Act, the ferry service’s governing document, and review its policies, which the board will do over the next months. And while the report recommended the board members be required to “take or retake the Boards and Commission course offered by the OIG Academy within 60 days,” Peter Jeffrey, board chair and Falmouth representative, deferred that decision to each board member. 

Kryska and the board were aligned with creating a “decision-making matrix.” Determination of roles was especially important to clarify the “board’s expectation of the interplay between [Kryska’s] position and the senior advisor role,” which is Bob Davis, the former Steamship general manager before Kryska. 

Davis holds a temporary senior advisor position that’s not to exceed 18 months. This decision was a concern highlighted by the state report since it could “impede the new general manager from setting his course for the SSA,” although Malkin assured The Times in December that Davis would hold no authority over ferry line operations and would undertake specific projects as directed by the board. 

In the coming months, according to Kryska’s plan, there will also be a review of various aspects of the ferry operation, including making a “deep bench” of staff as well as deciding where funds are going and how they are being approved. But a major part of the plan is the replacement of the aging fleet — particularly vessels that are over 50 years old like the Nantucket or the Governor — and making sure the ferry line is on track to meet the state’s goal of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050. 

And that won’t be easy. Kryska said: “2050 is not that far away when you’re talking about designing and building boats that are hybrid-electric, or all-electric if we can possibly do that.” He also highlighted that the Trump administration’s recent proposal to boost domestic shipbuilding will likely make shipbuilding more expensive. 

In the third phase of his plan, Kryska is looking to hone in on reinstituting the public’s trust in the ferry line with shifts to the Steamship culture and accountability, including ways for the board to evaluate itself, offer training sessions, and making a progress tracker based on the inspector general’s report. Kryska said while he thinks the ferry line has done “an incredibly great job representing the public,” especially Islanders, it needs to be communicated better. 

Kryska said he also plans to make himself and the ferry line’s senior staff more publicly available at the various port communities. 

“We’re not there just moving boats. We’re there to keep the lifeline going,” he said.