'Judgment error' left MV Gallipoli off the rails at Clarenville shipyard

The MV Gallipoliwas left stalled on a marine railway in Clarenvillebecause of a "judgment error"when the ferry was being moved, according to an official with Burry's Shipyard.

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A company spokesman,who asked not to be named, said the provincially ownedferry was mistakenly put on "a slight angle" on its specialized carriage.

The spokesman said that caused the carriage to become "misaligned" on its rails as workers were attempting to move the Gallipoli, leaving company officials and others scrambling to find a way to getthe vessel, which weighs 611 gross tonnes, back into the water.

The company said the vessel has not been damaged, and there were no injuries.

Solution by week's end, says company

Work at the yard has been suspended, and the spokesman said he expects a solution will be found by week's end, allowing work to continue on the refit.

Transportation Minister Steve Crocker called it an unfortunate incident.

"There's going to be a delay, but one of the most important things for us is safety, and so the stop-work order will stay in place until such a time engineers have a chance to assess the situation and we follow up with a safety plan to return to work on the vessel," Crocker said Wednesday afternoon.

The company spokesman said the lift system was fully certified by an independent third party to carry the Gallipoli.

The 47-metre vesselwas built in 1986 and is assigned to the Ramea-Grey River-Burgeo ferry service on the south coast of Newfoundland.

It came out ofservice Sept. 5 to begin a 90-dayrefit, but unexpected problems with steel deterioration on the vessel were discovered after it was placed on dry dock, and it's now expected to be out of service until this spring.

The refit is "well over" 50 per cent complete, said the company spokesman.

Crocker said roughly $1.5 million has been spent on the refit, and he expects thetotal cost to reach $3 million.

The minister said it's too early to say whether the incident will further delay the vessel's return to service.