North Shore commuters bound for the South Boston Waterfront know a thing or two about commuting agony. The patchwork of circuitous routes they must navigate to get from North Station to the various corners of the Seaport is the source of daily headaches.

But relief could come in the form of a 13-minute boat ride, engineered by the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority and funded by several local companies.

“There’s no direct connection between North Station and the South Boston Waterfront,’’ said James Folk, the agency’s transportation director. “A lot of companies are looking at water transportation and saying, ‘Why can’t we have a service that goes from Lovejoy Wharf [next to] North Station to the South Boston waterfront?’’’

Folk presented the concept to the agency’s board on Thursday. The next step: hiring an engineering and architectural firm to draw up a business plan early next year before deciding whether to move ahead with the concept.

A passenger ferry could fill an important hole in the city’s public transit network for many of the nearly 4,000 workers who come through North Station on their way to the Seaport area every day. It’s another sign that the various other options — including the Silver Line service provided by the MBTA — aren’t sufficient in the fast-growing Seaport area. Parking, too, is so tight that many workers can’t afford a spot.

The ferry project would be an outgrowth of an existing shuttle bus service to North Station that the convention center authority already oversees for Seaport employers and landlords. Like that shuttle service, the ferry would be funded by local companies for their employees. The proposed service could replace some or all of those buses, with the added benefit that the general public might be able to pay to climb on board. Folk said one option would be to create a monthly pass system to accomplish that.

The overall price tag won’t be clear until the business plan is done. In an interview, Folk estimated that it could cost $2 million to $4 million a year to run the ferries. And, of course, that would require companies to commit.

“The money that’s going to get it in motion is private money,’’ said David Gibbons, the convention center authority’s executive director. “We’re just here to facilitate.’’

Agency officials said they’ve already vetted the concept with area employers, developers, and other state agencies. They said executives from nearby companies — including Fidelity Investments, John Hancock, and Vertex Pharmaceuticals — reacted favorably to a demonstration ferry ride between Lovejoy Wharf and the Seaport World Trade Center last month.

Fidelity spokeswoman Alicia Curran Sweeney said the company is supportive of the water service idea. Fidelity, she said, views it as a “way to relieve parking and congestion in the Seaport district’’ while supporting the company’s environmental efforts.

The ferries would likely run in 15-minute intervals. Possible stops include Long Wharf, to intersect with the Blue Line, as well as docks at Fan Pier, the World Trade Center, and the Raymond L. Flynn Marine Park.

The painful final stage of the commute from the North Shore has been cited as a reason to build a North South Rail Link, an underground connection between North and South stations. In a recent pitch to business leaders for the multibillion-dollar project, US Representative Seth Moulton complained that the North Station-Seaport trip took longer for him than the train ride between Salem and Boston.

Two years ago, convention center officials realized there were too many private shuttle buses circulating in the Seaport, so they embarked on an effort to consolidate them, encouraging companies to pool their resources for more frequent, shared shuttles.

The process has taken longer than initially expected, and not everyone has signed up: A number of companies still run their own buses, among them Fidelity and John Hancock.

But agency officials say they consider their shuttle bus service to be successful so far, offering evidence of the potential appetite for ferry sponsorships. About 450 to 500 people ride the shuttle buses today, according to a convention center spokesman.

Michael Esmond, the chief financial officer at the convention center authority, said the shuttle buses currently generate about $1.5 million in annual revenue, with an operating profit to the agency of $200,000 to $300,000. Esmond said the agency views the shuttle buses and the future ferry service as ways to diversify the agency’s revenue sources.

But the Baker administration, which appointed most of the convention center authority’s board members, has signaled it doesn’t want the agency’s transportation ventures to become a drain on public dollars. Kristen Lepore, Baker’s budget chief, reminded the agency’s staff of that during Thursday’s meeting.

“That $200,000 net profit doesn’t leave much room for error,’’ Lepore said. “I want to make sure we’re constantly looking at that.’’

Jon Chesto can be reached at jon.chesto@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @jonchesto.