Yarmouth Cat ferry to set sail for first time since Nova Star failed

The Cat is getting ready to set sail once again from Yarmouth, N.S., to Portland, Maine.

A double rainbow appeared over the Cat Wednesday morning, hopefully a good sign for the pot of gold Nova Scotia taxpayers invested in the service.

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The first two years of this service is expected to cost around $32 million.

The ferry service has a capacity of 282 cars and 866 passengers. 

The crossing to Portland takes about 5.5 hours. Over the last two years, the Nova Star ferry made that journey. 

Nova Star Cruises received $39.5 million in subsidies from the provincial government over the two years it operated the ferry service. The ship had about 110,000 passengers, short of its two-year goal of 180,000.

There's a 10-year agreement between the province of Nova Scotia and Bay Ferries Ltd. The government has also promised to cover any cash deficiencies the company may incur — that means, if Bay Ferries makes money, it makes money, If it loses money, those loses are reimbursed by taxpayers.

The Nova Scotian government said there's no ferry service anywhere that can run without the help from government. It believes the investment is worth it. 

It will still be months, though, before it's known whether enough American tourists use the service to make it worthwhile for Nova Scotians.