Grand Manan ferry could sail again Thursday

The new Grand Manan ferry could be back in service Thursday morning.

The $68 millionGrand Manan Adventure was launched last week to replace the aging Grand Manan V, butencountered technical problems Monday and was docked in Blacks Harbour, N.B.

Gregg Ryder of Coastal Transport, the company that runs the ferry service, said mechanics believe they've found the problem with the broken bow thrusters.

"We have had some good luck. They worked through the night and we have isolated the problem. We think we're going to have the problem fixed later today," he said Wednesday.

"Once we have the bow thrusters working, we would take it out and do some sea trials on it. While there's a chance it could be running later this evening, it's more likely that it will go on 7:30 tomorrow morning out of Grand Manan."

Ryder said they are looking for a replacement part in Saint John and hope to have the timetable firmed up later Wednesday.