Vendor selected for reservation system replacement project
NANTUCKET (June 17, 2025) – The Woods Hole, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority Board today approved the selection of E-Dea SPA of Napoli, Italy, as the vendor for the replacement of the Authority’s reservation system. The unanimous vote came at the Board’s monthly meeting, held on Nantucket.
The five-year contract, at a cost of $5,779,484, would start in 2025 and go through 2030. The project would have an implementation phase starting in 2025, with phased in roll outs in 2026. The complete reservation software project is expected to be fully implemented in the fourth quarter of 2026.
The Request for Responses for the project was issued December 10, 2024. Nine proponents submitted responses prior to the February 21, 2025, deadline. Each proponent 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. 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.
Some of E-Dea’s current ferry clients using their software are BC Ferries of British Columbia Canada, Caledonian MacGrayne (CALMAC) of Scotland, United Kingdom, Color Line of Norway, and Searoad Ferries of Australia. In 2024, Edea’s clients managed 49 million passengers and 18 million vehicles.
The project’s start date will follow successful contractual negotiations with the vendor.
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Since 1960, the Woods Hole, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority has served as the transportation lifeline to the islands of Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard year-round. The Steamship Authority is the largest ferry service to the islands and offers the most frequent daily departures for passengers, automobiles, groups and trucks. In 2024, more than 2.9 million passengers and nearly 674,000 vehicles of all sizes were transported to and from the islands. Our U.S. Coast Guard-certified crews are committed to the highest level of safety at sea while our vessels offer comfort and convenience with spacious seating, free Wi-Fi and TV on board.