Ferry service between PEI and Nova Scotia resumed Wednesday, almost a week after a fire in the engine room of the MV Holiday Island halted all ferry service to and from the island.
The MV Confederation left the port of Wood Islands, PEI at 7am AT with about 44 vehicles on board – about average for the first voyage on a Wednesday morning, according to operator Northumberland Ferries Ltd. There were 14 trucks, six motorcycles, four campers and about 20 cars in it.
Confederate will operate four round trips per day to begin with the final trip back to Caribou, North Carolina departing at 6:30 PM AT. The hours are:
- From Wood Islands at 7am and 10am and 1.30pm and 5pm AT.
- From Caribou at 8:30 and 11:45 am and 3:15 and 6:30 pm AT.
Northumberland Ferries says it is working on a plan to extend the Confederation timetable to six weekday return trips as early as next week.
The resumption followed five days without ferry service while the company dealt with the aftermath of the fire. During this time, the only way to enter or exit the island by vehicle was via the Confederation Bridge, which connects PEI and New Brunswick.
More than 200 people had to be evacuated from Holiday Island on Friday afternoon as it approached Wood Island with heavy smoke billowing into the sky due to a fire in the ship’s engine room.
As of late Tuesday, Transportation Safety Board inspectors were still waiting to gain access to that room to begin the process of determining what went wrong.
MV Confederation, right, is shown next to MV Holiday Island at Wood Islands on Wednesday morning. Ferry services between PEI and Nova Scotia have resumed almost a week after an engine room fire on Holiday Island. (Julien Lecashore/Radio-Canada)
John Dalziel is a former Transport Canada marine safety inspector who worked for 50 years in the supervision of ship construction and repair.
He told CBC News that the fact that the fire continued to burn for more than 24 hours despite efforts to put it out showed that something had clearly gone wrong.
“If you can seal the engine room and flood it with carbon dioxide, the fire should go out,” he said.
“The fact that the fire lasted this long suggests that maybe it didn’t work as well as it should have.” And certainly when they have a chance to look at it more closely, they can appreciate why that happened.”
A truck boards the MV Confederation on Wednesday. Fourteen trucks, six motorcycles, four campers and about 20 cars were on board for the 7 a.m. trip to Caribou, New Zealand (Julien Lecacheur/Radio-Canada)
Northumberland Ferries and the federal government said they were looking at options to replace the ferry.
In 2019, Ottawa announced it would purchase a new vessel to replace Holiday Island, although this is not expected until at least 2027.
Dalziel said it was highly likely that Holiday Island would never operate again – and finding a replacement ferry would not be easy.
“To find a ship that meets these terminals can take some time,” he said. “We hope people are thinking very quickly right now about what the possibilities are. And there are probably good options.”
The replacement could be ready this summer, the minister says
During a stop in PEI on Wednesday, Cardigan MP and cabinet minister Laurence McAuley said the federal government was already discussing getting a temporary replacement.
Although McAulay said he could not divulge any details about how the talks are going and risk jeopardizing the talks, he said they have “moved further” than he thought they would at this point.
He said the replacement could even be done before the end of the tourist season.
“It’s a reasonable opportunity, a very good opportunity,” he said.
Northumberland Ferries said MV Confederation could handle around 85 per cent of normal traffic. But MacAulay said having two ferries gives tourists confidence they will be able to get to their destination.
“It’s so vital that we have two ferries to keep all the traffic moving,” he said. “If you’re like, ‘Well, I might get on, I might not get on,’ maybe don’t bother coming to Prince Edward Island. That’s what I’m worried about.”
Transport Safety Board investigators are preparing to board the MV Holiday Island on Wednesday morning. (Julien Lecashore/Radio-Canada)
MacAulay said the potential replacement is not the CTMA Vacancier, the ferry that once plied between Souris and Cap-aux-Meules in the Magdalen Islands in the winter.
Vacancier’s federal property has been anchored in Georgetown since late 2021.
“People have told me … it’s going to be a water problem and possibly a dredging problem,” McAuley said. “I’m not an expert on this, but that’s the information I’ve been given that with this ferry it might be difficult.”
Union calls for mental health support
Meanwhile, Canada’s largest private sector union is calling on Northumberland Ferries to provide adequate mental health support for workers involved in disembarking passengers and securing the vessel until it can be towed to the unloading dock.
Unifor said in a news release Tuesday that members of Locals 4508 and 4508A, which represent Northumberland Ferries employees, were instrumental in ensuring passengers left the ship quickly and without major injury by following emergency procedures.
“We expect the employer to have counselors available to provide the necessary assistance to our members and to provide any time away from the work environment to those employees who have experienced such a horrific situation,” Linda McNeil, Unifor’s Atlantic Regional Director, said in the release .
“The fact that every passenger, young and old – including those with mobility issues – and every crew member were able to get off the burning ship is down to the heroic efforts of the crew of MV Holiday Island.”
A “blessing in disguise”?
Passengers CBC News spoke to while waiting to board the Confederation on Wednesday were not worried about getting on the ferry.
In fact, Chris Hancock, who is from the area, thinks the fire may have been a “blessing in disguise” if it led to the acquisition of a new ferry.
“Maybe it’s time to get another ferry and maybe this thing will really speed things up and obviously it’s great that nobody got hurt.”
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