Fundy Rose sailing today, but....

The "new" Digby to Saint John ferry Fundy Rose sailed from Halifax for Saint John this afternoon, but there is no word on when the ship will actually enter service. Bay Ferries have stated that there will be at least a week of trials in both ports as well as crew orientation and training before the ship could replace the venerable Princess of Acadia.

Fundy Rose took off from pier 9B like a race horse this afternoon.

The replacement process was initially delayed when the former Blue Star Ithaki was not available in the fall of 2014. It finally did arrive in Halifax on December 5, 2014 as Canada 2014 and was idle for a time until the refit actually began. Since then it was been a beehive of activity up to the time of its sea trials. I assume that work was being conducted under the direction of the federal government - actual owners of the ship. At some point after the sea trials June 9 and 10 it was handed over the Bay Ferries for their own work and that has involved a smaller number of workers. The estimate of the refit time was correct, but it started too late to hit the peak tourist season, which is right now.

Absolutely spotless in appearance the ship made for sea.

 

When the ferry enters service, perhaps later this month, there will still be the issue of whether it can handle the expected truck traffic during the busy fishing season in southwest Nova Scotia. The Princess of Acadia can handle 21 trucks, but the Fundy Rose can only handle 14. Although the operators have promised extra trips to meet demand, it is more a question of timing since fish products must arrive in the Boston market at a specific time. All that aside it will be good to see the handsome ship in operation.

What the future holds for the Princess of Acadia has not been announced, but expect to see it laid up for a time before it is sold for scrap.

Blue Star Ithaki a.k.a. Canada 2014

The new Digby-Saint John ferry Blue Star Ithaki, temporarily (we hope) renamed Canada 2014, is at this moment in Funchal, Azores  Madeira for fueling en route to Halifax. Once it arrives here next week, it will be refitted for Canadian service,  and given its permanent name.

The present ferry Princess of Acadia was given its name by the Canadian Pacific Railway, which had a longstanding naming tradition. Its deep sea passenger lines were Empresses and its coastal passenger ships (all but one of which were on the west coast) were Princesses. That Bay Ferries and the Minster of Transport kept the Princess of Acadia's name long after CP's involvement stopped was certainly laudable, but it is now time for some creative thinking. The CPR days are gone, and its time for something original.

The recent tendency to name ships based on contests and suggestion box entries relieves the operators of the responsibility for picking names. Similarly the government's tendency to name ships after politicians is self-serving and should not be tolerated. Continuously re-using the same name over and over or appending a "II" or "III" is also an easy way out.

The cruise industry's lamentable record in ship's names should also be an example of what not to do. A "brand" or a sponsor is a despicable excuse for naming a ship.

Prince Edward Island ferries were named after Fathers of Confederation, but some genius decided to part from that tradition and we got "Holiday Island" and "Vacationland" instead. These names had no local resonance and could have been anywhere on earth. Good sense returned when the name Abegweit was chosen for the last ferry to be built for the Cape Tormentine-Borden route (recalling also the name of a previous ship) and Confederation for the last ferry built for the Caribou-Wood Island run.

Now we have a chance to follow in that sensible direction, and I am suggesting something such as Loyalist  for the new ship. I would not be in favour of appending some descriptor to that such as "Fundy" since that weakens the impact. Saint John is known as the "Loyalist City" and I suppose the good residents of Digby might take exception to my suggestion, but there are good Loyalist streams in that area too.

Bottom line is let's have a serious name for the new ship. One that is thought out, appropriate and with serious intent.

I don't suppose the new ship will be making any 3 minute arrivals in Digby, but it is possible - see this You Tube video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBwo_OqGwpI

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Princess of Acadia replacement on the way

The ferry Blue Star Ithaki made its final visit to the island of Syros on October 25. It is now in Piraeus, making preparations to sail for Canada.

http://greece.greekreporter.com/2014/10/26/citizens-of-syros-bid-farewell-to-blue-star-ithaki/

The schedule for replacement of Princess of Acadia was to have the selected vessel in Canada by July 31, 2014 and have it fully refitted and ready for service by December 31, 2014. Allowing the early spring for training and handover to operators, it was to enter service March 31, 2015.
That schedule slipped, due to availability of the replacement vessel, and it is now due in Halifax in November. It will tie up at pier 9 for an estimated four month refit, which will include a heads-off engine rebuild. It has four Wartsila engines, and the manufacturer has a major service depot here.
The Blue Star Ithaki, flies the Greek flag, and is owned by Blue Star Ferries SA of Athens. Built by Daewoo Heavy Industries in Korea, it has a capacity of 1500 passengers, and has been running Piraeus to Tinos, Syros and Mykonos for fourteen years.
Meanwhile Princess of Acadia passed Halifax (which no longer has drydock capacity) October 19 en route Méchins, QC for repairs to its bow thruster. The thruster has not been operational for many months, but the ship has been able to berth without too much difficulty, although a miniature tug has been stationed in Digby just in case. However with winter coming on, it will need an operational thruster.