In early April, just a few days from the start of its 2005 season, the owners of the SCOTIA PRINCE abruptly cancelled the sailing season. They cited toxic mold in Portland’s International Marine Terminal as grounds for terminating the season.
The ferry, with a capacity for 1,000 passengers, has made the run between Portland, Maine, and Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, for more than 30 years. It holds 220 cars and has a cruising speed of 19 knots.
Portland, which owns the International Marine Terminal, made extensive improvements to the terminal in the fall of 2004. City officials said that the toxic mold problems had been taken care of and no longer posed a problem.
According to Ben Snow, manager of the port, the city is in discussion with Northumberland Ferry Ltd. of Nova Scotia, which runs several ferry routes including THE CAT from Yarmouth, N. S., to Bar Harbor, Maine.
“It’s really a question of what’s feasible,” said Snow. Northumberland Ferry currently doesn’t have another ferry for the Portland-to-Yarmouth run.
With speeds approaching 40 knots, THE CAT cut the time between Bar Harbor and Yarmouth from 6 hours in a traditional car ferry to less than 3 hours. THE CAT carries a maximum of 900 passengers and 240 cars.
Loss of the SCOTIA PRINCE is estimated to cost the Maine and the Maritimes over $150 million with tourism and freight transport affected.
However the last two years had seen declines in passenger numbers of 23 and 30 percent.
As of mid-April the SCOTIA PRINCE was for sale, reportedly with an asking price of $14 million.