The steamship Martha’s Vineyard hasn’t set sail from Woods Hole since 1956 but its steam whistle is still causing a headache for the Steamship Authority.

At their monthly meeting this week the boat line governers met in executive session to discuss whether to sue current SSA Capt. Bruce Malenfant to recover what may be the SS Martha’s Vineyard’s long-lost steam whistle. But the Malenfants believe it’s a case of mistaken identity.

“Bruce himself wanted to be here but of course he is working, trying to do his best for the authority while you’re sitting here discussing whether or not to sue him.” said Mr. Malenfant’s wife, Sarah Alger of Nantucket, at Tuesday’s meeting in Woods Hole. Mr. Malenfant is the senior captain of the M/V Iyanough, the boat line’s high-speed ferry that operates between Hyannis and Nantucket.

The Martha’s Vineyard was launched in 1923, the sister ship of the steamer Nobska, whose whistle is currently installed in the M/V Eagle. The Martha’s Vineyard served the Island until 1956, before an afterlife shuttling between Bridgeport, R.I., and Port Jefferson, Long Island. It eventually sank in Boston under private ownership.

At issue Tuesday was an antique whistle in the possession of Mr. Malenfant that the Steamship Authority believes is the same that used to toot on the steamer Martha’s Vineyard. Nantucket governor H. Flint Ranney said he had learned from the president of the Bridgeport Port Jefferson steamship line that the Martha’s Vineyard’s whistle had been returned to the Steamship Authority at a ceremony at some point in the past few decades, though he wasn’t sure which, and was then misplaced in storage.

But Ms. Alger claimed her family’s whistle was presented to Mr. Malenfant’s father, longtime Steamship maintenance employee Robert (Froggy) Malenfant, at a retirement party in 1986 and was unlikely the same one used on the Martha’s Vineyard.

“While we sympathize with the nostalgia of bringing back the steam whistles and retrofitting them to the more modern day vessel, it’s unfortunate that has to be accomplished by dishonoring the memory of a longtime employee,” she said.

The Falmouth Enterprise reported last Friday that the Martha’s Vineyard’s steam whistle had been returned in 1993 at the dedication of the M/V Martha’s Vineyard. If that was the case, Ms. Alger said, they had the wrong whistle.

“This whistle has been in the continuous, uninterrupted possession of the Malenfant family since it was presented to Bob at his retirement party,” she said. “Maybe something else happened to the Martha’s Vineyard whistle. We don’t know. We don’t have it.”

After Ms. Alger read from a plaque on her family’s whistle commemorating the service of Mr. Malenfant’s father Mr. Ranney conceded that the Steamship Authority might be after the wrong one. Mr. Malenfant’s whistle, he said, bore little resemblance to the Nobska’s whistle, which was unlikely given their construction history.

“I’m embarrassed that our longtime employee Bruce Malenfant feels that he has been threatened,” he said. “I feel that the whole thing has been poorly managed. There is no way I am going to vote for a lawsuit. I think it is a waste of money and time and I think we should apologize to the Malenfants and end the matter.”

After an executive session Mr. Ranney said the board had voted to table the matter until their next meeting to conduct further investigation. In November Mr. Ranney presented Martha’s Vineyard governor Marc Hanover an antique steam whistle he had purchased in Yarmouth for installation on the M/V Martha’s Vineyard.

“I offer it as a token of our great respect, affection and friendship for the Island of Martha’s Vineyard from the whistleblowers on your sister island of Nantucket,” Mr. Ranney announced.

For now the case of the missing steam whistle remains a mystery.

Also at Tuesday’s meeting boat line treasurer Robert Davis reported that the number of passengers and automobiles onboard SSA vessels in November jumped more than three per cent over the previous year. He also reported a net operating loss of $2.6 million for the month, $100,000 worse than budgeted.

“Part of it is that the 2011 budget is based on the 2009 traffic numbers,” explained SSA general manager Wayne Lamson.

Through October the boat line’s net income is $10.4 million or $1.39 million higher than budget projections. Mr. Lamson said the higher number could be tracked to lower-than-expected maintenance costs.