BRING IT BACK
Truckers say three months without Digby ferry is too long.
The Digby-to-Saint John ferry, the MV Fundy Rose, isn’t just used for tourists, say those who have been impacted by its threemonth absence.
Local seafood and trucking companies also rely on the ferry for easier access to New Brunswick year-round.
“This time of year, the roads are the worst, the weather’s not the best and it makes a longer trip for my drivers,” said Brian Reynolds of Reynolds Trucking in Port La Tour. The ferry has been off its route since Jan. 24. The service was originally supposed to be back up and running in early March, then it was pushed back to late March.
Then the service was supposed to be restored April 10. Now a notice on Bay Ferries’ website says the service won’t be back up and running until April 26.
“Bay Ferries Limited and the government of Canada have cap- ital, maintenance and repair projects ongoing concurrently at the Saint John, New Brunswick and Digby, Nova Scotia ferry terminals, as well as upgrades aboard the MV Fundy Rose,” Bay Ferries said in a press release on April 8. “Due to a number of factors, including weather, completion of the project on the Saint John terminal facility must be extended.”
The MV Fundy Rose is owned by Transport Canada and leased to Bay Ferries Ltd.
Transport Canada said in an email the fenders on the Saint John ferry terminal are being replaced because they were at the end of their service life.
Transport Canada said they are working closely with the project’s contractors to ensure there are no further delays.
But for truckers who rely on the ferry to get their product to market, the absence of the ship has been problematic.
“Three months is too long,” said Reynolds, who said this is the longest closure of the ferry he remembers. Reynolds was counting on the service to resume April 10 so he could give some of his drivers vacation time. Now the drivers he has available will have to work harder to make up for the delay. Southwestern Nova Scotia truck drivers looking to get to Saint John have to drive up to Truro and through the Cobequid Pass, pass through Sussex and then they arrive in Saint John.
“It’s an extra seven hours driving one way, 14 all together. And it’s not necessary,” Reynolds said.
It’s not just the trucking industry hurting, it’s also the product suppliers that the trucks ship for, he said. “It hurts all around, everyone has to meet their deadlines.”
With Transport Canada saying the work is taking longer than expected due to weather conditions and a delay in getting some materials for what needed to be done, some companies are wondering why Transport Canada did not have the necessary supplies ready before the ferry was taken off its run.
The slow season for southwestern Nova Scotia seafood transporters and truckers is between the end of September and end of October. Repairs during that time would have been easier for the industry.