Small fee increase coming next year for Argentia ferry run, says Marine Atlantic
No changes to Port aux Basques service
Travellers boarding some Marine Atlantic journeys to Newfoundland will be paying a little bit more next summer.
Company spokesperson Darrell Mercer told CBC News ticket prices are increasing by four per cent for the seasonal Argentia run.
However, tickets for the Port aux Basques-North Sydney service aren't scheduled to increase this fiscal year or the following fiscal year, Mercer said.
"We are expected to achieve 100 per cent cost recovery on the non-constitutional services. As such, with inflationary pressures related to the cost of goods and services, we will need to generate additional revenues," Mercer wrote in an email to CBC News on Wednesday.
"We continue to work with the Government of Canada regarding our funding and budgetary processes."
While the price of a ticket for the Argentia run will increase, Mercer said that doesn't include additional fees on cabins, meals, recliners and other amenities.
Marine Atlantic held its annual general meeting on Tuesday, which provided an update on the financial year from April 1, 2023, to March 31, 2024.
According to the company's report, revenue for the fiscal year was $135 million, but total expenses were $297 million, leaving a shortfall of $162 million.
Rocky summer
Meanwhile, Marine Atlantic president and CEO Murray Hupman says this past summer, which isn't on the books yet, was challenging.
The federal Crown corporation's new ferry the Ala'suinu — initially scheduled for its first run between North Sydney-Argentia on June 14 — experienced maintenance and scheduling problems for weeks.
Hupman estimates 4,000 passengers were impacted by cancellations and a lesson learned from this past year is the need to inform people as quickly as possible about delays so passengers can plan and react accordingly.
"People need time to adjust. They need time to prepare themselves for [the] eventuality where they may not have their plans, as prescribed, interrupted and obviously then trying to figure out what to do," Hupman told CBC Radio's On the Go.
Hupman says 2024 was a busy year in addition to bringing a new ferry into service as well as finalizing work on a new administration building in Port aux Basques.
"The corporation was far, far busier than it has been for many years as these projects are really large projects," he said.
"Despite the beginning of the summer, which was a bit of a rough go, it did turn itself around during the summer and we did see a return to what we would call normal operation."
According to data provided by Marine Atlantic to Radio-Canada, in 2024 there were 297 cancelled sailings. There were 179 the previous year.
Unknown costs
Marine Atlantic is still calculating what the delays meant for the company financially, Hupman said, pointing to costs associated with additional staffing requirements and the additional Port aux Basques runs that were added while the Ala'suinu was delayed.
"We have lost revenue because we basically comped most of our passengers. So instead of getting revenue from them, we actually end up giving them their refunds and then comping them," he said.
Marine Atlantic offered compensation to customers affected by cancellations of the Ala'suinu: $200 for adults and $100 for children that could be applied to their booking through Port aux Basques or saved for later.
Hupman said some of those costs are covered under warranty.
"We're still working on the numbers and working with the warranty arrangements. So we really don't have a final number today," he said.
He hopes by the end of the fiscal year to have a better idea of the tally.
Unexpected delays
Hupman says Marine Atlantic needed more time to make the Ala'suinu's launch run smoothly after its arrival in Canada and its first scheduled voyage.
The boat was delayed by having to take a longer voyage around the coast of South Africa after leaving the shipyard in China. By the time the Ala'suinu reached Canadian waters, it was already weeks behind schedule.
"That already put us behind the timeline," Hupman said.
"Of course, as we started to sort of unravel things, turn over the rocks, we started to see a lot more involved than what we originally anticipated."
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With files from On the Go
