Grand Manan(a) Adventure?

The brand new ferry Grand Manan Adventure arrived in Halifax today for warranty repairs. Launched in December 2010 by the Eastern Shipbuilding Group in Panama City, Florida, the 6580 gross tons vessel was to be delivered in May 2011. However overheating during builder's trials delayed delivery (hence the manana.) The ship arrived in Grand Manan on July 26, but still had to undergo owners trials, storing and certification. (more manana)

She finally made her first trip August 11, but on August 15 she had to be withdrawn from service for three days when both her bow thrusters failed during a docking. (mananas again)

She entered the Novadock floating dock on arrival today, and is expected to be in for a week (she is to be out of service for 10 days including travel time to and from Halifax.) Press releases indicate that one of the bow thrusters is to be repaired under warranty, but there will doubtless be other work to do.

The new ship is rated for 82 autos, 10 tractor trailers, 380 passengers and crew, and can travel at 14 knots.

The vessel she is replacing, Grand Manan V, is covering the Black's Harbour/ Grand Manan route in the interim. The "V" is now designated as the backup and summer season supplement.

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Grand Manan V mystery [update 2]

Damage to the ferry Grand Manan V may be more serious than orginally thought. Not only that, but there seems to be difficulty in finding a shipyard to do the work.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2011/05/20/nb-grand-manan-ferry-follow-530.html

Despite my earlier updated report, it appears that the ship may not be going to Pictou after all. New intelligence suggests that the ship is heading for Montreal. This long trip will take several days, and in fact Montreal may not be the ultimate destination. We will see.

Update: The ship's AIS is now giving Méchins, QC as the destinaiton. This is the next hearest yard with a a drydock that could handle the ship. Verreault's shipyard there would be well able to deal with any repirs the ship needs.
There may be an explanation - embarassing though it migh be, for the earlier report about Montreal as destination. In fact that report gave Lachine as the destination. Someone (whose knowledge of geography and the French language may have been limited) probably confused Lachine with Méchins (or Les Méchins, as it is correctly rendered.)
If you were to pronounce Lachine to sound like Machine and Méchins as Machines I guess that would explain it.

Macs Instant French pronunciaiton guide for anglophones:
Lachine= la shin
Méchins= you have to hear it said properly - give me a call.

Lachine, just at the west end of downtown Montreal, is the entrance to the old St.Lawrence Canals, which bypassed the Lachine rapids. They were so named as a joke on the great explorer LaSalle, who was not satisfied with finding the Mississippi, and wanted to find China, but was stopped by the rapids. La Chine is french for China.

Bad News for Grand Manan [updated]

1. Grand Manan V in Halifax after a refit in 1998.

2. Grand Manan at Liverpool, NS in 1995. Her bow vistor is partly open.

The only operational ferry between Black's Harbour, NB and Grand Manan Island was taken out of service yesterday after a grounding incident.

With delivery of the new ferry Grand Manan Adventurer scheduled for sometime in June, and the back up ferry Grand Manan mothballed since last fall the timing was very unfortunate.

As the Grand Manan V approached the wharf in Black's Harbour, NB, and was preparing to berth, it is reported that there was a failure in the bridge controls and the ferry ran onto a ledge, in the falling tide. Worse still, the ship's bow became jammed under the pier and the ferry started to list. At one time the list was reported to be 10 degrees, with one of the props clear of the water.

The crew responded quickly with life rafts and a nearby fish farming scow was pressed into service and all passengers were evacuated safely. The crew then managed to free the ship by reversing at full power, but this damaged the pier and the ship's bow. However the ferry was able to berth and all vehicles were eventually unloaded.

According to press accounts the ship is damaged below the waterline and its bow visor is also damaged, which restricts it to stern loading only.

It may take several days to get the old ferry Grand Manan re-certified and operational. When it was laid up September 12, 2010 it was held in reserve as back-up, but was not expected to sail again since the new ferry was due in spring. The new ferry's May delivery has been delayed to June, so the old timer may well be in use for some time once it is brought back into service.

Grand Manan is much smaller than Grand Manan V, so fishing companies, trying to get their product off the island and long week-end tourists will be severely inconvenienced.

For a photo and general account of the incident see:

http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/news/article/1407752

Grand Manan was built in 1965 at Saint John Shipbuilding and Drydock. From 1991 to 1993 it carried the name Grand Manan IV. It was owned by J.D.Irving Ltd to 1978, CN Marine from 1978 to 1989 and since 1989 by the Province of New Brunswick. It is operated by Coastal Shipping Ltd of Saint John. Its capacity is 100 passengers ands 25 autos.

Grand Manan V was assembled in 1990 by Bodewes Scheepswerft "Volharding" in Hoogezand, from components built by Niestern Sander BV of Delfzijl, Netherlands. It has a passenger capacity of 320 and carries 64 cars.

Update: Grand Manan entered service Thursday May 19. Many fuishing boats made the two and one half hour trip to Black's Harbour to pick up much needed baot, but also to transport groceries, newspapers, other staples and even passengers. Unfortunately large truckls are not able to use the ferry, and these emergency delivery trips will continue until normal service is resumed.

Grand Manan V will head to Pictou, NS for repairs which are expected to take at least a week.

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