Bay Ferries Cancels Nova Scotia-Maine Service

Bay Ferries Cancels Nova Scotia-Maine Service

Bay Ferries Ltd. announced Friday that it is ending the Canada-US seasonal service because it didn't get extra funding from the provincial government for the 2010 season. Mark MacDonald, president and CEO of Bay Ferries, called it "very sad news," but said he understood the province's position given the tough economic times. "It's an inherently difficult service in that it operates only about 4½ months a year [and has] expensive assets," he said. The company wanted at least $6 million to keep the Cat ferry going between Yarmouth and Bar Harbor and Portland, sources said. The Nova Scotia government has put $18.9 million into the ferry service since the fall of 2007.

The ferry run between Yarmouth and Maine began in 1997. The Cat, a high speed INCAT catamaran which can carry 900 passengers and 240 vehicles, has run every day in the summer, and five days a week in the spring and fall shoulder seasons. Traffic has plummeted since the early years, MacDonald said, citing a number of factors such as a high Canadian dollar, new U.S. passport rules and high fuel costs.

A sister company, Northumberland Ferries, operates a seasonal service between Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia and is dependent on financial support from the federal government. The five-year contract expires in March. Traffic has been falling in competition with a fixed link to the island province. Northumberland Ferries leases the two boats and the terminals from the federal government. The company gets about $5 million each year in a subsidy to operate the service from May to December.