The hundred-and-forty-page report from marine consultants detailing the many shortcomings of the Steamship Authority arrived this week like coal in a Christmas stocking. It will take some time to unpack all its findings, but probably the single best synopsis of the boat line’s core issue appears on page fifty-six where it describes a “hero culture.”

Who doesn’t love a hero? Pretty much anyone who knows what it takes to run a complex, hundred-million-dollar enterprise.

As the report describes it, the Steamship Authority is led by a small group of well-meaning and committed people who spend significant amounts of time performing duties that are outside of their job descriptions. When problems inevitably arise, they rush to the rescue rather than focus on procedures and policies to prevent future problems. While one problem is getting solved, others requiring that employee’s attention are left unattended.

“The appearance of hard work and long hours is celebrated by customers and the organization, even if the allocation of resources is grossly inefficient,” the report concludes. “Fighting fires is easier than planning.”

It will require bold steps by the SSA board of governors to address the many internal issues exposed in the report, up to and including big changes in top management. The report makes dozens of specific recommendations, from creation of a mission statement to backing up its website to establishing health, safety, quality and environmental protection standards, few of which can be accomplished without a top-down commitment.

What the boat line needs now is a dynamic leader willing and able to bring the organization into the 21st century, a task that will be all but impossible for someone who has worked his way up through the ranks.

But it will also require regular users of the ferry service, a group that includes almost everyone who lives full or part time on the Vineyard, not only to support but to demand an overhaul, knowing full well it will come with a price tag. The consultants have estimated a one-time million-dollar expenditure, and another million, or a one per cent increase in the annual operating budget, though that number seems light.

As the report makes clear, the SSA is highly unusual among ferry services worldwide in not relying on government subsidies. Boat line managers, believing that the public has come to demand it, have made cost-cutting a priority. But cost-cutting, perhaps needless to say, has come at a cost, and the lack of investment in sound planning is now coming due.

Not incidentally, when one hears praise for the Steamship Authority, it is often for small acts of heroism on the part of an employee. What regular user of the ferry service doesn’t have a story about a worker who went beyond the narrow confines of his or her job to secure a critical reservation for a sick child, return a lost purse or accompany a disabled person off the freight deck?

It’s possible to professionalize the operation and still retain the personal touch that Islanders value. But it will take money and will.

Altruism, resourcefulness, courage — those are the traits of a real hero. We hope the board of governors can find those in themselves to give the Steamship Authority the transformation it needs.