PEI and other ferry news

 News Item 1 

 The federal government confirmed today (November 16) the purchase of the ferry Fanafjord from Norwegian owners, for CAN$ 38.6 million. The ship will be used on the Wood Islands, PE - Caribou, NS, May to December seasonal service as a temporary replacement for the Holiday Island. A new ferry is in the design stage and may be delivered in 2026.

 Holiday Island

The Holiday Island was declared a constructive total loss after a fire in 2022 and has since been scrapped. For the 2023 summer season, operators Northumberland Ferries Ltd (NFL) were able to borrow a spare ferry from the Société des Traversiers du Québec, the Quebec provincial ferry service. That ship, the Saaremaa I, (a 5233 gt ship, built in 2010) returned to Quebec in October. It could have been recalled at any time if needed in Quebec.

Saaremaa I

Despite reliability issues with the other PEI ferrry, the Confederation, there is no news about its replacement, which is also needed.

Confederation

 Built in 1993 by Ferguson Industries Ltd in Pictou, NS, the 8060 gt Confederation is the main ship on the route. Supplemental service in the peak summer season was provided by the Holiday Island although it had to be used in the shoulder seasons when Confederation was out of service.

The "new" Fanafjord was built in 2007 and at 6904 gt it is barely big enough for the secondary boat use, and will be inadequate if needed to fill in for the Confederation.

Interestingly the Fanafjord is a dual fuel vessel, able to use diesel or LNG, and carried the name Greenferry I for a year from 2021 to 2022. Since there is no nearby means of refueling with LNG, I expect that it will be using diesel fuel exclusively during its Prince Edward Island tenure. 

News Item 2

There has been considerable adverse reaction to news that the Saint John, NB to Digby, NS ferry Fundy Rose will be redeployed for an indefinite period in 2024. A vital link for western Nova Scotia fish products headed for the United States, its removal for even a short period of time will have serious consequences. The road alternative to the ferry would mean a second driver would be required in order to get time sensitive product to market while respecting driver hour limits. Toursim would also be effected depending on the timing of the disruption.

Fundy Rose

The plan is for the Fundy Rose to move to the Souris, PE to Cap-aux-Meules (Grindstone) Magdalen Islands route while its ferry Madeleine II goes to mandatory drydocking in rhe spring of 2024. 

That service requires more robust, sea-going type ships. Madeleine II, built in 2008 is a 15,875 gt ship and itself is an interim vessel until a replacement is delivered. Fundy Rose is a 10,193 gt ship built in 1999 and is also a marginal replacement - even on a temporary basis. 

I wonder if the Magdelan Island operators C.T.M.A. will also reactivate the ancient C.T.M.A. Vacançier (11,481 gt, built in 1973) which has been held in warm layup in Georgetown, PE since the suspension of its passenger service from Montreal in 2020, and occasional replacement service. (Its own replacement by the New Zealand ferry Straitsman has long been rumoured but nothing has been said since February of this year.)

C.T.M.A. Vacançier

 

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Madeleine II announced

The federal Minister of Transport has announced an interim solution to replace the ferry Madeleine that operates between Souris, PE and Cap-aux-Meules, Iles de la Madeleine (aka Grindstone, Magdalen Islands), QC.

Built in 1981 by Verolme Cork in Cobh [Cork] Ireland the current ship carried the names Leinster until 1993, Isle of Inishmore until 1996 and Isle of Inishturk until acquired by the Canadain government in 1997. It has been operated by C.T.M.A (founded as Co-opérative de Transport Maritime et Aérien) ever since, (and has been repainted from the above colours.)

It was previously announced that Davie, Lévis would be building a replacement ship, but since that will not be available until 2026 (at the earliest) the government has announced plans to acquire an interim ship to be named Madeleine II, which will be operated from 2021 until 2026 when it will be sold.

The ship they have selected is sailing in Morocco as Villa de Teror for Nav.Trasmediterranea under Cyprus flag. The ship has a slightly spotted history, which is well documented by Wikipedia and does not need to be repeated here. It does seem odd that it should be for sale so soon after entering service,  but perhaps it is a distress sale due to Covid-19.

For an entertaining read see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS_Villa_de_Teror

A "new" ship for the most part, it may be something of a white elephant when it comes time to sell it.  Let us hope that the Province of Quebec is no longer in the market for a ship in five years time. Based on the orginal Finnish desigm it should have a good ice rating, because it will be expected to run year round.

Davie will be building the new ferry - to be named Jean Lapierre and a replacement for Holiday Island which runs between Caribou, NS and Wood Islands, PE.

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