The search for a new general manager to run the Steamship Authority has surveyed close to 100 potential candidates, received 40 applications and identified five leading choices so far, executives with Faststream Recruitment said Friday.

For the first time since the project started, construction on the new Woods Hole Steamship Authority terminal will continue through the busy season, forcing a game of musical chairs for the hundreds of thousands of passengers and motorists coming on and off the ferries. 

Several trips aboard the Steamship’s newest ferry were cancelled this week after workers discovered a blockage in some of the vessel’s sanitation pipes. 

The long-awaited successor to the Steamship Authority’s aging vehicle reservations system will be a digital platform from E-Dea, a company in Naples, Italy providing software for ferries, cruise ships and ports.

The Steamship Authority has ratified contracts for about 280 vessel employees in recent weeks, giving pay raises across the board and raising the potential for changes to shifts in the coming years. 

The Steamship Authority is looking at ways to alleviate congestion in Woods Hole after weather cancellations paired with the terminal construction caused traffic jams last weekend.