N.S.-P.E.I. ferry cancelled just a day after resuming service

After resuming service following a two-week shutdown due to a mechanical problem, the ferry service between P.E.I. and Nova Scotia has been cancelled for Monday. 

Northumberland Ferries issued a text message Sunday at around 2 p.m. AT telling customers MV Confederation won’t be operating between Wood Islands and Caribou due to “technical issues.”

The ferry had two more round trips left to do on Sunday, with departures from Wood Islands scheduled for 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. The vessel is now docked in Wood Islands.

The ferry was first shut down on June 17. It had resumed service Saturday after a part was installed.

Mark Wilson, senior-vice president with Northumberland Ferries, said Sunday’s cancellation was due to a different issue.

“The port main engine coupling that was fixed is functioning well,” Wilson said in an email. “The technical issue is now in the starboard main engine coupling.”

Service shutdowns ‘crushing’

The new closure is a slap in the face for some business owners in P.E.I., who had just been informed Saturday the ferry service was restarting ahead of schedule.

Northumberland Ferries had initially announced the closure could last until mid-July because the part that was required to fix the vessel had to be built from scratch and shipped from Germany.

Businesses owners in Wood Islands had told CBC News the extended closure would be devastating for them because they rely on visitors who come to the Island via ferry.

I said it was devastating when we first heard [of a cancellation]. This is almost worse.– Katherine Bryson, councillor, Municipality of Belfast

Katherine Bryson is a local business owner and councillor for the Municipality of Belfast. After the closure was announced, she started working in a campaign encouraging people to buy locally. The campaign has funding from Tourism P.E.I. and is expected to launch next week.

“It’s crushing us,” Bryson said. “You get on this high where the ferry is up and running again and then you’re just on an absolute low as soon as you hear it’s down.

“We so desperately depend on a reliable two-ferry service. A lot of these business owners are seasonal and they require that reliable service for that short season. So I said it was devastating when we first heard [of a cancellation]. This is almost worse.”

The Confederation is the only vessel currently operating between P.E.I. and N.S.

MV Saaremaa I, the leased vessel that replaced MV Holiday Island after a fire took it permanently out of service last July, is on dry dock in Quebec. It’s due to return to the P.E.I.-Nova Scotia route in mid-July.

The federal government is the legal owner of the Confederation. It’s budgeted for a permanent replacement for the Holiday Island, but that ship is still in the design stage and won’t be ready until 2028 at the earliest.