Northumberland Ferries says MV Holiday Island won't enter service as planned

The MV Holiday Island, one of two vessels that ferries passengers between Wood Islands, P.E.I. and Caribou, N.S., isn't fit to enter service on schedule this year.

Northumberland Ferries Ltd. issued a news release Monday afternoon saying the vessel needs more steel work beyond what was originally thought necessary.

Don Cormier, vice president of operations and safety management, said the vessel will likely be out of service for another four to six weeks.

The MV Confederation will continue to operate along the route, with five regularly scheduled sailings each day instead of the usual nine during peak season.

"Well we certainly know it will have an impact on the trucking industry, potentially on the tourist industry, and it certainly will have an impact on our employees who work seasonally," Cormier said.

"We're certainly concerned about all those things."

May need additional crew

Cormier says he's in talks with the company's larger customers to figure out how to best meet their needs over the next few weeks.

He says he's also engaged in conversations with the workers' unions to talk about how they can lessen the impact on staff.

"We'll look at our needs going forward, and there may be a need for additional crew for the Confederation, given that the ship will be a lot busier," he said.

"But it's a significant amount of employees that would normally get pretty full seasonal employment, but that doesn't look promising for this season."

Most of the work on the ship is being done in the vessel's main vehicle deck and in other above-water areas of the ship.

The MV Holiday Island was originally scheduled to enter service on June 17.

• MORE P.E.I. NEWS | UPEI 'will not lock out faculty and staff' this summer
• MORE P.E.I. NEWS | Summerside honours WWI soldiers with public display