‘Someone dropped the ball’: Shipper says fallout from ferry cancellation could have been avoided

People who work in PEI’s trucking and shipping industries say they are facing increased costs because ferry service between the island and Nova Scotia has been canceled until at least July 10.

“It adds $500 to $600 to $700 to every load we ship to Nova Scotia,” said Mary VandenBroek Grant, owner and operator of Cardigan Feed Services, an agricultural retailer that ships feed, pet food, fertilizer and grain.

In the warmer months when the ferry runs, the company’s truck drivers can work shorter days by taking the ferry to Nova Scotia instead of the long route through New Brunswick as they do in the winter. That is not possible now.

“If you book on the ferry, you can leave at 7am [a.m. AT] and take a tour and come home and be home in half a decent time,” said VandenBroek Grant. “But in the winter … the drivers are usually gone by 5 – and most don’t come back until 11.”

MV Confederation, which serves the route between Caribou, NS, and Wood Islands, PEI, started Friday with engine problems.

Part has to be built from scratch

A “mechanical flexible coupling in the propulsion driveline” has failed, Northumberland Ferries senior vice president Mark Wilson said in a statement Monday. The part needed to repair the Confederacy would have to be built from scratch, he said.

This is estimated to take four weeks.

Scott Annear, owner and operator of Morley Annear Ltd. in Montague, said he relies more on the ferry route later in the summer and through the fall.

At this time of year, his company primarily ships gravel from Nova Scotia to PEI and potatoes from the island to Halifax Harbor.

“When the ferry was working properly it was a great way to get loads done – and they could get a few loads in a day,” he said. “But now they’ve gone from maybe a few loads a day to no loads a day.”

We understand that mechanical issues occur. But if you only have one aging barrel left, there has to be a better plan B.— Chris McKee, Executive Director of the Atlantic Provinces Trucking Association

The problems also affect the rest of the industry, said Chris McKee, executive director of the Atlantic Provinces Trucking Association.

“The cost is unavoidable and will unfortunately be passed on by the shippers to end users and consumers,” he said.

“It seems we have experienced a declining service with Northumberland Ferries over the last few years… We understand that mechanical issues can arise. But when you have just one aging vessel, there has to be a better plan B. “

‘Nothing has been done’

Annear and VandenBroek Grant said they, like many in the shipping industry, are frustrated.

They said they did not like how Northumberland Ferries and the federal government have reacted to improving the ferry service after the MV Holiday Island fire put that ship out of service for good last summer.

MV Saaremaa 1, which is leased to operate with MV Confederation during the peak summer season, is dry docked in Quebec. It is scheduled to arrive in early July.

“A whole year later and nothing has been done yet,” said Annear. “They weren’t prepared for this and now we don’t have a ferry until the Quebec boat comes back ashore.

“I think someone dropped the ball on this, and it’s time someone was held accountable.”

The federal government owns MV Confederation, which is leased to Northumberland Ferries. It also owned and leased the Holiday Island.

VandenBroek Grant said she doesn’t understand why they didn’t have a backup plan.

“My mother was the wisest woman in the world and she used to say, ‘A wise person always looks far into the future to make plans,'” she said.

“I can’t quite understand how the federal government didn’t get their priorities straight when creating a long-term plan for our ferries.”