Ferry link between N.B. and Maine studied

An American businessman would like to create a year-round ferry system to link New Brunswick's Deer and Campobello Islands with the Maine communities of Eastport and Lubec.

David Marlow, who operates shipyards in Taiwan and Florida that build ocean-going pleasure boats, said he's now considering a ferry service that would connect Eastport and Lubec to New Brunswick's Campobello and Deer Islands in the Bay of Fundy.

'The real goal behind all of this is simply to allow those communities to do the things communities do with each other, and that's to trade.' — David Marlow, businessman

He said each town on the run could see three or four trips per day with one "well-equipped, reasonably built, fairly modern ferry," according to Marlow.

The American businessman said he believes the ferry project connecting the U.S. and Canadian communities can be done with very little government funding.

"It seems logical that a ferry service that would connect Lubec, Perry, Campobello [Island], Deer Island, those are all within shooting distance of one another but they're all totally disconnected," he said.

Marlow said the ferry would run year-round and could allow the struggling communities to thrive.

"The real goal behind all of this is simply to allow those communities to do the things communities do with each other, and that's to trade," he said.

This isn't the first time the coastal city of Eastport has looked to Canada for economic development opportunities.

The Eastport Port Authority applied in 2009 for U.S. federal infrastructure money to build a railway bed that would run along the bed of an old line abandoned in the 1980s.

The Maine city wanted a railway to carry cargo to and from its deep-water port to other markets in Canada and the United States.

Canadian link also needed

Marlow's concept is being applauded by Canadians who are hoping to get increased ferry service to the Bay of Fundy islands. However, there is a demand for an extra link to another Canadian port.

Cathleen Case, who is involved with Campobello's ferry committee, said a year-round service is a fine idea, but it must link Campobello directly to a Canadian port so islanders can get access to services in their own country.

"We don't care whether they come by ferry or by giant slingshot as long … a direct Canadian link is what we were looking at. A ferry just seems the most obvious," Case said.

Marlow said the idea of connecting the ferry service to a Canadian port shouldn't be a problem. He will discuss his ferry proposal with Canadian authorities this summer.

Marlow said a larger ferry operating between Digby, N.S., and Eastport, Me., would also make sense.