The Nova Star, which had been scheduled to depart Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, on Saturday for Florida, has changed its course and will now head to Shelburne, Nova Scotia.
The vessel will be moored in Shelburne as the company awaits a decision on an off-season route.
A company spokesman had said on Thursday that the ferry would move to Fort Pierce, Florida, while its owners negotiated for an off-season route.
However, a berth in Shelburne became available and the decision was made to move the ferry there, company spokesman Dennis Bailey said Friday.
The $165 million vessel was to have left Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, and head south because the boat’s heating system must be maintained to protect the ship’s operating systems.
Bailey said the company is now in “advanced negotiations” with another company for a winter route. Information about that route will be announced when a deal is finalized, he said.
It’s unclear why the ferry is leaving Yarmouth Harbor, where the vessel has been berthed since its season ended on Oct. 13, three weeks ahead of its scheduled conclusion. Bailey would not say why the company is moving the ship. Located on the southeast side of the Nova Scotia peninsula, Shelburne is only 60 miles from Yarmouth by road.
One possible explanation is that the lobster fishing season in Nova Scotia starts on Nov. 24. Yarmouth is a fishing hub, and Nova Star’s docking lines have been an obstacle for many fishing boats.
A winter route would provide Nova Star Cruises with much-needed revenue and save the company the cost of winter storage.
The ferry carried 59,000 passengers in its inaugural season, well short of the company’s goal of 100,000 passengers.
The Nova Scotia government had planned to advance the company $21 million (Canadian) in forgivable loans over seven years.
But the ferry operator spent all that money in the first season. The provincial government allocated another $5 million so the company could pay its bills. The company has sought help from Gov. Paul LePage in getting a loan from a commercial bank in Maine.
In September, the company’s CEO and president, Mark Amundsen, at a public event in Portland, said the company had found a winter route, which would be announced in a week. But no announcement has been made to date.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.