More Yarmouth ferry crossings cancelled due to engine troubles
CBC News | Posted: August 2, 2017 11:26 AM | Last Updated: August 2, 2017
Crews from Bay Ferries and engine manufacturer working to resolve problem
Bay Ferries Ltd. has cancelled another crossing on its route between Nova Scotia and Maine as the company says a crew works to repair a problem with one of the engines on its high-speed ferry.
The Thursday morning voyage from Yarmouth, N.S., to Portland, Maine, is cancelled. The crossing had been scheduled for 8:30 a.m.
The CAT ferry service was also cancelled on Monday night from Portland to Yarmouth and both crossings on Tuesday were cancelled.
An advisory on the company's website blamed the Thursday cancellation on "technical issues."
A news release issued by Bay Ferries on Tuesday said a full technical crew from both Bay Ferries and the CAT's engine manufacturer, MTU, is in Portland assessing an engine issue that was identified on July 31.
Bay Ferries said the crew pinpointed the source of the problem late Tuesday and is now working to repair a defect in one of the 20 cylinders in the ship's starboard inner main engine.
The company aims to have the ferry back in service in time for the Thursday evening crossing from Portland to Yarmouth.
The company arranged an evening sailing of another of its vessels, the MV Fundy Rose, from Saint John to Digby, N.S., to accommodate passengers affected by the CAT's cancellation.
Mark MacDonald, the chair and CEO of Bay Ferries, said mechanical issues are just the "nature of the business" in the shipping industry.
"We went through all of last year … without any mechanical downtime. And unfortunately, we've had these couple of things this year. It won't be the last time, it wasn't the first time and you just work your way through them and carry on."
At the beginning of July, Bay Ferries reduced the number of planned crossings due to a problem with one of the ship's four engines. The loss of one engine also added one hour to crossings.
Yarmouth tourism healthy
Yarmouth Mayor Pam Mood said the tourism industry in the town has been healthy this year, and she remained upbeat despite the crossing cancellations.
"I guess I liken it to how many Air Canada flights get cancelled because of something or other," Mood told Mainstreet on Tuesday. "They'll be up and running as soon as they possibly can, and it's onward and upward for us."
Mood said she doesn't know how long the cancellations will continue.
"I'm not hearing a month, I can tell you that. I understand a few days, maybe a week. But I can't and I shouldn't speak to that because I've not been advised. It's just as quickly as they possibly can get up and running."
In March 2016, the Nova Scotia government reached a 10-year, $32-million agreement with Bay Ferries Ltd. to manage and operate the ferry.
The deal included $9 million toward the ferry's retrofit executed last spring at Detyens Shipyard in Charleston, S.C.
The CAT ferry is a former U.S. navy vessel that had previously been used as a fast ferry in Hawaii.