MV Confederation will remain out of action this weekend, says Northumberland Ferries
The only ferry capable and available to transport vehicles and people between PEI and Nova Scotia will not return to service until Monday, July 10, operator Northumberland Ferries Ltd said. in a statement Thursday.
“MV Confederation’s mechanical issue is expected to be resolved over the weekend. The necessary parts will arrive on Saturday and an expedited repair, followed by extensive testing, will get the ship back into service early next week,” senior said. vice president Mark Wilson said.
“Service remains suspended through Saturday and Sunday.”
The news of the continued lack of ferry services comes as thousands of country music fans are expected to arrive on the island this weekend for the Cavendish Beach Music Festival.
“We deeply regret this continued inconvenience during this peak tourist season in Atlantic Canada,” Wilson said in a statement. “We are doing everything we can to safely resume services as soon as possible.”
The failure of a mechanical flexible coupling in the ship’s powertrain caused the ferry’s first breakdown on the weekend of 17 June.
A replacement for the broken part had to be manufactured in Germany and shipped to Canada to repair the boat as it was not in stock anywhere in the world.
Shortly after the ferry returned to service on July 1, another outage was announced, which also required parts to be ordered outside the island.
Not only tourists, but also islanders, truckers and other business travelers have only two options: take the Confederation Bridge that connects Borden-Carleton, PEI, to New Brunswick, or fly.
Sharp blow to companies
Businesses in southeast PEI have seen their customer flow plummet as no traffic comes to the island through Wood Islands.
A Shop Belfast campaign is being launched to try and persuade islanders to patronize local businesses, and the Eastern PEI Chamber of Commerce has announced a meeting for Tuesday 18 July to discuss ways to stabilize the ferry service.
“Recent unplanned operational interruptions to ferry service for extended periods have wreaked havoc on the routine operations of our key eastern PEI industry sectors and the traveling public,” the chamber said in a press release.
The federal government owns ships
The ferry’s failure shed light on the uncertainty of having only one working vessel dedicated to the service, after MV Holiday Island was sent to a scrap yard in July 2022 following an onboard fire.
Operator Northumberland Ferries was able to find and lease a suitable car ferry from the Quebec ferry company later in 2022, but company officials knew it could be withdrawn at any time if it was necessary to get a ship on a St. Lawrence River route replacement.
That replacement ship, MV Saaremaa I, will return to the PEI-Nova Scotia route in mid-July after staying in drydock, Wilson confirmed Thursday.
“NFL crew departed yesterday to join the ship in Quebec for transit. MV Saaremaa 1 is expected to arrive late Sunday, July 9 and the remaining crew will be trained and final preparations completed as soon as possible to safely enter service.”
The federal government is the legal owner of Northumberland Ferries boats.
It has budgeted for a replacement ferry for MV Holiday Island, but that vessel is still in the design phase and will not be ready until 2028 at the earliest.
