Marine Atlantic

Marine Atlantic Inc. (fr: Marine Atlantique) is an independent Canadian Crown corporation offering ferry services between the provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia.

Marine Atlantic was established in 1986 to take over the provision of ferry services in Atlantic Canada which had previously been operated by CN Marine, a subsidiary of Canadian National Railway.

Marine Atlantic's corporate headquarters are in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador.

Current routes

Currently, Marine Atlantic operates ferries between North Sydney, Nova Scotia and Port aux Basques, Newfoundland route year-round (96 nautical miles). This route is mandated under Newfoundland's "Terms of Union" in the Constitution of Canada. This route was assumed by Canadian National Railway in 1949 from the Newfoundland Railway, upon Newfoundland's entry into Confederation.

Marine Atlantic also operates a seasonal service on a route between North Sydney and Argentia, Newfoundland (280 nautical miles).

Current vessels

Marine Atlantic owns and operates 3 Ro-Pax (roll-on, roll-off, passenger) vessels and 1 vessel dedicated for tractor trailer/cargo traffic.

Gulfspan vessels

The MV Caribou and the MV Joseph and Clara Smallwood are the largest icebreaking passenger ferries in the world, and the largest ferry vessels operating in North America. Classed "100A1" by Lloyd's with an ice classification of "Northern Baltic 1A Super," these vessels have similar dimensions as medium-sized cruise ships. They are based on a unique Canadian hull-design called Gulfspan, which permits the ships to slice through sea ice rather than riding up onto and crushing it as conventional icebreakers do. Their dimensions are 27,000 registered tons and 179 metres long, carrying 1,200 passengers, 100 crew, and 370 automobile-equivalent vehicles.

Other vessels

MV Leif Ericson is the company's third passenger ferry, having been purchased in 2001. Significantly smaller and a less-capable icebreaker than the Gulfspan vessels, this ferry's dimensions are 4,600 registered tons and 157 metres long, carrying 500 passengers, and 250 automobile-equivalent vehicles. Atlantic Freighter is the company's dedicated freight and cargo vessel.

History

Extensive budget cuts by the Government of Canada during the latter part of the 1990s led to a drastic downsizing of Marine Atlantic's operations.

In 1997 the Confederation Bridge replaced Marine Atlantic's constitutionally-mandated ferry service to Prince Edward Island.

That same year saw the operation of the Saint John-Digby and Yarmouth-Bar Harbor services transferred to the private sector company Bay Ferries Limited, a subsidiary of Northumberland Ferries Limited.

Marine Atlantic also removed itself from the provision of coastal ferry services in Newfoundland and Labrador with the transfer of operations to the provincial government at the end of the 1997 season, in exchange for federal funding to extend regional roads (such as the Trans-Labrador Highway) to service coastal communities. These coastal ferry services had been initiated by the Newfoundland Railway and were assumed by Canadian National Railways, following the province's entry into Confederation in 1949, although they were not constitutionally mandated.

In 1998, the company moved its headquarters from Moncton, New Brunswick to St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, after briefly considering North Sydney, Nova Scotia and Port aux Basques, Newfoundland and Labrador.

In late 2004 the federal government announced the appointment of a three-member committee tasked with examining future operations of Marine Atlantic. One of the options being considered is reportedly privatization.

Former routes

From its inception in 1986 until 1997, Marine Atlantic operated the following routes:

Port aux Basques, NL along Newfoundland's remote South Coast serving outports and larger centres such as Burgeo and Ramea to Terrenceville
Lewisporte, NL, and St. Anthony, NL along the rugged Labrador coast serving outports and larger centres such as Cartwright and Happy Valley-Goose Bay to Nain
Borden, PE to Cape Tormentine, NB
Saint John NB to Digby, NS
Yarmouth, NS to Bar Harbor, Maine

Former vessels

Cabot Strait

MV Marine Evangeline
MV Ambrose Shea
MV Marine Nautica
MV Marine Atlantica
MV John Hamilton Gray
MV Marine Cruiser
SS Caribou
MV Lief Erickson

Gulf of Maine/Bay of Fundy

MV Bluenose
MV Princess of Acadia

Labrador Coast

MV Sir Robert Bond
MV Northern Ranger
MV Nonia

Newfoundland South Coast

MV Marine Runner
MV Marine Courier
MV Taverner
MV Petite Forte
MV Hopedale

Northumberland Strait

MV Abegweit
MV John Hamilton Gray
MV Vacationland
MV Holiday Island

For further information on ferries which operated on Northumberland Strait prior to Marine Atlantic's service (1986-1997), consult the entry on Confederation Bridge.

External links

Marine Atlantic Corporate Web Site

Marine Atlantic | Ferry systems | Ferries of Canada

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