Northumberland Ferries Limited
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Northumberland Ferries | |
 |
|
| Type | Private Company |
|---|---|
| Founded | Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island (1941) |
| Headquarters | Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada |
| Key people | Mark MacDonald, President & CEO |
| Industry | Transportation |
| Products | Ferry service |
| Revenue | N/A CAN |
| Employees | N/A (2006) |
| Website | www.nfl-bay.com |
Northumberland Ferries Limited (NFL) is a ferry company operating in eastern Canada and headquartered in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. NFL is also the owner of subsidiaries Bay Ferries Limited and Bay Ferries Great Lakes Limited through its holding company.
NFL has operated the ferry service that carries the Trans-Canada Highway across the eastern part of the Northumberland Strait between Wood Islands, Prince Edward Island and Caribou, Nova Scotia since it was established in 1941 by the Government of Canada. This service is seasonal and only operates between the months of May and December on account of heavy sea ice and the lack of icebreaking ferries.
NFL currently operates two vessels owned by the Government of Canada: Confederation built in 1993, and Holiday Island built in 1971, joining NFL in 1997 after being declared surplus by Marine Atlantic upon completion of the Confederation Bridge. NFL also operates the ferry terminals in Wood Islands and Caribou, which are owned by the Government of Canada.
In return for operating the vessels and terminals, NFL receives a federal subsidy to offset losses. This subsidy was fully renewed for 5 years in March 2005. Transport Canada had initially proposed a reduction in funding to permit operation between the months of May and October only, and after 2008 the service was to be reduced to only one vessel. The proposed service changes raised protests in both Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia by residents and politicians, forcing the federal government to maintain the status quo.
[edit] Former ferries
List of ferries formerly operated by NFL:
- MV Prince Nova, formerly Erie Isle (1941-1958) - built by Ferguson Industries, Pictou, N.S. and sold to a Connecticut company for $1.4 million in 1998
- MV Charles A. Dunning, formerly S.S. Sankaty (1946-1964) - triple expansion engine had 800 horsepower and capacity for 23 autos and 4 trucks was bought by Canada as a minelayer and sold to NFL in 1941; sold for scrap in 1964
- MV Lord Selkirk (1958-1993) - bought by NFL, the ferry had capacity for 65 automobiles; sold to company in Panama
- MV Confederation (1973-1993) purchased in 1962 with capacity for 60 cars and sold to a company in Quebec and nenamed the Nordik Passeur; mothballed in 2004
- MV Prince Nova II (1963-1997)
- MV Prince Edward (1972-1997) the 1,765 tons (Length of 249 feet and breadth of 55 1/2 feet; the load draft is 12 feet) had capacity for 60 automobiles and built in Pictou, N.S. in 1972; sold to Newfoundland government in 1997 and renamed the MV Captain Earl W. Windsor for ferry run on the Fogo Island, Chance Harbour
