Steamship Hires Italian Company To Build New Online Reservation System

The Steamship Authority has chosen an Italian firm to replace its problematic reservation system, which has buckled under heavy web traffic in recent years, causing significant frustration among customers.

During its meeting on Nantucket last week, the Steamship Authority's Board of Governors voted unanimously to approve the selection of E-Dea SPA, of Napoli, Italy, as the vendor for the reservation system project. The five-year contract is worth $5.78 million and would run through 2030. The complete reservation software project is expected to be fully implemented by the end of 2026.

The Steamship Authority issued a request for responses for the reservation system project on December 10, 2024. Nine companies submitted responses prior to the February 21, 2025, deadline. Each company was required to submit a proposal outlining its business response, functional requirements, and technical and performance requirements. These categories contained almost 750 individual criteria and questions.

"Those submissions were reviewed by an internal, seven-member evaluation team on the basis of criteria other than price," the Steamship stated in a press release. "Four of the nine vendors were then invited to meet with the evaluation team, provide a demonstration of their product, and to participate in a question-and-answer period. Each firm’s separate financial proposal, which included a proposed cost for an ongoing service contract through 2030, was opened by the Authority after the proponents’ technical proposals and demonstrations were evaluated. The process was overseen by the Authority’s procurement officer and facilitated by the staff from Gibbous LLC."

E-Dea SPA bills itself as "The Leading Platform-as-a-Service for Ferry, Port, and Transport Operations." Some of its current ferry clients using the company's software include BC Ferries of British Columbia, Canada, Caledonian MacGrayne (CALMAC) of Scotland, United Kingdom, Color Line of Norway, and Searoad Ferries of Australia. Last year E-Dea SPA's clients managed 49 million passengers and 18 million vehicles.

The project’s start date will be announced only after successful contractual negotiations between the Steamship Authority and E-Dea SPA.

In January 2024, Steamship Authority customers attempting to book vehicle trips on the opening day for summer boat reservations ran into a host of problems, including 504 error messages, non-working dropdown menus, and long queues in the virtual waiting room. It marked the third year in a row that the Steamship Authority's website has buckled under high demand. While the 2025 opening day went far smoother, the Steamship Authority's management and board have long discussed the need to replace the dated reservation system.