The Steamship Authority is having trouble hiring enough port engineers to maintain its 10-vessel fleet, while other positions also lack candidates, general manager Robert Davis said this week.

Electric-powered Steamship Authority ferries are a long and very costly way off, according to a marine study by boat line consultants.

The Steamship Authority’s Oak Bluffs ticket office has been closed to the public due to staffing issues related to Covid, the boat line announced Tuesday.

The ferry Nantucket was back in service Friday morning after a week of mechanical breakdowns and shuffling on the Vineyard route.

The Steamship Authority announced Wednesday that it would stop requiring require masks on board ferries or shuttle buses. The announcement follows an update from the U.S. Coast Guard.

Three of the Steamship Authority’s four freight ferries — the Gay Head, Katama and Sankaty — will need to be replaced within the next three to five years, a marine survey has found.

A bill to amend the Steamship Authority enabling act came under sharp criticism from county leaders on the Vineyard and Nantucket in a rare meeting between the two Islands early this week.

The Dukes County commission and Nantucket county commission will host a joint hearing on a state bill to amend the Steamship Authority legislation. The hearing begins at 5 p.m. over Zoom.

The ferry Woods Hole was sidelined Saturday after the Steamship Authority discovered a leak in the vessel’s coolant system last week, spokesman Sean Driscoll confirmed. The Governor is running in her place.

State legislation won’t be needed for a chief operating officer to join the Steamship Authority. Boat line governors Tuesday agreed to create a job description and begin a search.