Staff Shortage Impacting Town Ferry Schedule

The Winthrop Ferry Valkyrie had to suspend service on Wednesday, June 19, and the morning shift on Thursday, June 20 due to a shortage of eligible captains to drive the boat. Service will resume starting at 3 p.m. on Thursday, June 20.

“We deeply regret any inconvenience that this suspension may cause and are working diligently to resolve the issue as soon as possible. Thank you for your cooperation and continued support of the Valkyrie,” said Town Manager Austin Faison in a release.

Faison told the Town Council Tuesday night that staffing is an issue and right now there are only captains available for transporting six passengers or less. The ferry has 43 seats.

“There was also a series of bad timing, one person is at a wedding out of the country and the other has been ill in the hospital,” Faison explained. “We do not want to reduce service. We have reached out to several companies for captains. We are working as hard as possible to make sure that all shifts are full. This just speaks to the difficulty for a municipality to manage a ferry. We don’t have captains that can come in at any time and staff us. We want to provide an alternative for people driving into the city.”

Faison also wants to fulfill obligations to the Transportation Network of Metro of Greater Boston.