Fanafjord ferry could have been bought for half the price, says marine expert

If the federal government had moved more quickly it could have the Fanafjord ferry in service now between Nova Scotia and P.E.I. and bought it at half the price, says the owner of a marine design firm in eastern P.E.I.

In 2016, the MV Holiday Island, one of two ferries Northumberland Ferries was operating on Nova Scotia-P.E.I. route at the time, spent the entire summer in drydock. 

Russell Compton, the owner of NorCan Marine in Montague, told Island Morning host Laura Chapin he was concerned about the age of the ferries on the service. The Holiday Island was launched in 1970, and the MV Confederation in 1993.

Compton took it on himself to look for possible replacements for the ferries. He travelled to Norway, where he has friends in the industry, and looked at three ships. One of those boats was the Fanafjord, which the federal government purchased last year as a replacement ferry for $38 million, but is now estimated to have a price tag of  $43.5 million according to Transport Canada officials. 

Compton said that in 2016 the Fanafjord was available for $19 million. He let the government know about that availability at a meeting when he returned with Cardigan MP Lawrence MacAulay, the federal Department of Transport, Northumberland Ferries, and then P.E.I. premier Wade MacLauchlan.

He said he addressed MacAulay directly at the meeting.

"Lawrence, you should buy three of these and get them over here because these ferries are old that are here," said Compton.

"I said there's nine of these boats for sale in Norway. They're six years old, they're clean, green, faster, and they fit into our docks. And nothing happened."

In an emailed statment MacAulay's office said it could not comment on any sort of price quotes that Compton may or may not have received, as a private citizen and not a representative of the Government of Canada, during a trip to Norway eight years ago.

The Holiday Island suffered an engine fire during a crossing in 2022 and had to be scrapped. The Fanafjord is a temporary replacement ferry for that vessel. It was purchased last year, but required work, and is currently in Norway undergoing sea trials. 

Northumberland Ferries has had no ferries available for its service since Sept. 23, when the replacement vessel Saaremaa, on loan from Quebec, had engine issues.  A technical problem with Confederation in Sept. 15 caused it to crash into the wharf and it is still being repaired. 

When purchased, the Fanafjord operated on liquified natural gas, and Transport Canada made the decision to convert it to diesel-electric.

There have been questions about that decision. While P.E.I. does not currently have a supply of LNG, some have suggested it could have been transported and have noted it is a greener fuel than diesel.

The decision was Transport Canada's, but Northumberland Ferries CEO Mark Wilson said his company was consulted, and that there were issues with Fanafjord's LNG engines that went beyond supply of fuel.