MV Confederation returns to N.S.-P.E.I. ferry run after extended repairs
CBC
Northumberland Ferries Ltd. finally has a ship taking vehicles and passengers across the strait between P.E.I. and Nova Scotia, more than 10 weeks after both the ferries it was operating went on the disabled list.
NFL said on its website Wednesday morning that MV Confederation will make its first run since Sept. 15, when the vessel hit its dock in Wood Islands, seriously damaging its bow visor, a type of raiseable door. The ship has been undergoing repairs in Pictou, N.S., for nearly three months.
The Confederation was scheduled to leave Wood Islands, P.E.I., for Caribou, N.S., at 10 a.m., and is expected to make three round trips today. Departure times for the remainder of Wednesday from Wood Islands are at 3 p.m. and 6 p.m., while the ferry leaves Caribou at 11:45 a.m., 4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
After today, the company said Confederation will make four daily round trips, an increase from the three it normally makes during the month of December.
Northumberland Ferries general manager Jeff Joyce said Transport Canada, which owns the vessel, allowed the extra daily crossing in light of the impact the "disappointing" ferry season had on communities in both eastern P.E.I. and northern Nova Scotia.
The company had hoped the Confederation would be back in service by Monday, Dec 2, which would have given it three weeks of trips before the planned end of the 2024 season on Dec. 20.
The second ship on the route this summer, MV Saaremaa, went down for engine repairs on Sept. 22 and never returned to service before it had to be returned to the Quebec provincial ferry service.
Northumberland Ferries has leased that ship for the peak tourism season for the past three years, since MV Holiday Island caught fire during a crossing in July 2022.
That vessel was heavily damaged and had to be scrapped.
The lack of a reliable ferry service has caused hardship for tourism operators as well as businesses that rely on trucking to and from the Island, and politicians representing the area have been pushing Transport Canada to take steps to guarantee two-ship service during the busiest months of the year.
The federal department responded by buying MV Fanafjord, a Norwegian vehicle ferry that is undergoing a refit and sea trials in that Scandinavian country.
In the past, Joyce has said the Fanafjord should leave Europe sometime during the first half of December on a 35-day voyage to the Maritimes.
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