The Steamship Authority has dropped a potential $3.50 to $5 rate increase for excursion fares from the Vineyard and cut a proposed passenger rate hike from $1 to 50 cents, according to a revised draft of the preliminary 2025 operating budget.

The Steamship Authority is facing a $5 million gap between its projected revenues and expenses next year due to an unprecedented $15 million rise in costs, paired with a decline in revenues.

The last two Steamship Authority captains from Martha’s Vineyard have officially retired, leaving only off Island-based officers to run the Woods Hole route.

After more than two years of development, the Steamship Authority’s long-delayed new website has been put on hold until a new reservations system is in place.

Steamship Authority general manager Bob Davis announced Tuesday he will step down in October 2025 to take an advisory role at the boat line. Mr. Davis gave a tearful goodbye to the public and staff at the monthly meeting of the board of governors, held on Nantucket.

The M/V Barnstable, a repurposed offshore oil vessel, could join the boat line’s fleet later this fall after more than a year’s work at the Alabama Shipyard in Mobile.