Resumption Of NFL Ferry Service

USPA NEWS - The Transportation Safety Board of Canada is investigating the fire which occurred in the MV Holiday Island’s engine room Friday morning as the vessel approached Wood Islands, Prince Edward Island. Over 200 passengers were evacuated from the ship using an inflatable slide and were transported to shore by sailors that responded to the distress call. The rescue response included Coast Guard vessels as well as fishing boats that were in the area. Transport Canada said they expect the Holiday Island to be unavailable for the rest of the summer.

In a Monday afternoon media briefing, Northumberland Ferries announced that sailings between Caribou and Wood Islands will remain suspended throughout Tuesday due to " ongoing recovery efforts."

Northumberland Ferries vice-president, Don Cormier said that they hope to resume service on Wednesday. "If all goes according to plan, the MV Confederation will make four round trips between the two provinces, starting with a departure from Wood Islands at 7am. Cormier added that, "The Confederation has the ability to handle more trips than previously scheduled. In 2016 during a Holiday Island service disruption, it was able to handle about 85 per cent of normal traffic." He closed by saying that Northumberland Ferries will provide an update Tuesday afternoon.

Northumberland Ferries July 26th, 2022, Scheduling Statement as posted on their website: "Service will resume Wednesday, July 27, 2022, on the following interim four round-trip/day schedule on MV Confederation: Departing Wood Islands: 07:00, 10:00, 13:30, 17:00 and Departing Caribou: 08:30, 11:45, 15:15, 18:30. We are working on a plan to expand the schedule to six round-trips sometime next week. An update on this potential schedule will be provided by the end of this week. Our customer care teams will be working with our customers who had reservations on sailings outside of this four-trip schedule to do our best to book them into one of the above sailings. Please note that until August 7th, there is very limited availability for campers, motorhomes and vehicles towing trailers. We appreciate your patience as we focus on doing our best to minimize the impact this may have to our customers."

The Confederation is owned by the Government of Canada and was built by Pictou Industries in 1993 for Northumberland Ferries Limited. The Confederation is 114.2 meters long, has an overall beam of 18.77 meters, a draft of 4.43 meters, and maximum speed of 18 knots. The ship has the capacity to hold 220 vehicles and can accommodate cars, buses, motorcycles, motorhomes, and commercial trucks. The Confederation can carry a total of 600 passengers and 18 crew.