Marine Atlantic ferries sail for 1st time since Christmas Eve

After four days of cancellations during the busy holiday season, the ferries between Nova Scotia and Newfoundland finally sailed Thursday night.

Both Marine Atlantic crossings departed North Sydney and Port aux Basques at 11:45p.m. Thursday, the first time passengers or commercial goods were able to cross the Cabot Strait since Christmas Eve.

The MV Highlanders is set to arrive in North Sydney at 7 a.m. and the MV Blue Puttees is scheduled to arrive in Port aux Basques at 7:15 a.m. Friday.

The ferry servicehas been plagued by weather-related cancellations and delays for much of December, which has caused a backlog of commercial traffic on both sides.

Two crossings are still on schedule to sailfrom North Sydney on Friday; a passenger run at 11:45 a.m. and a commercial-only sailing at 5:45 p.m.

Marine Atlantic said the commercial run was added to deal with the backlog of trucks waiting in Nova Scotia to bring goods across to Newfoundland and Labrador.