Marine Atlantic
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Marine Atlantic logo or herald
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.
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Routes Operated
From its inception in 1986 until 1997, Marine Atlantic operated the following routes:
- North Sydney, N.S. to Port aux Basques, Nfld. & Lab.
- North Sydney, N.S. to Argentia, Nfld.
- Port aux Basques, Nfld. & Lab. along Newfoundland's remote South Coast serving outports and larger centres such as Burgeo and Ramea to Terrenceville
- Lewisporte, Nfld. & Lab., and St. Anthony, Nfld. & Lab. along the rugged Labrador coast serving outports and larger centres such as Cartwright and Happy Valley-Goose Bay to Nain
- Borden, P.E.I. to Cape Tormentine, N.B.
- Saint John N.B. to Digby, N.S.
- Yarmouth, N.S. to Bar Harbor,Maine
Only the North Sydney to Port aux Basques and Cape Tormentine to Borden services were mandated under the Constitution of Canada. The Newfoundland and Labrador coastal ferry services were assumed by Canadian National Railway in 1949 from the Newfoundland Railway, upon Newfoundland's entry into Confederation.
Cutbacks and Downsizing
Extensive budget cuts throughout the Government of Canada during the 1990s led to a drastic downsizing of Marine Atlantic's operations.
In 1997 the Confederation Bridge replaced the Marine Atlantic 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 in 1997, in exchange for federal funding to extend the Trans-Labrador Highway to service coastal communities. 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.
Present Operations
Currently, Marine Atlantic operates the constitutionally-mandated North Sydney to Port aux Basques route year-round (96 nautical miles), and a seasonal service from North Sydney to Argentia (280 nautical miles) using 3 Ro-Pax (roll-on, roll-off, passenger) vessels and 1 vessel dedicated for tractor trailers traffic, which the company owns and operates.
Gulfspan Ferries
The Caribou and the Joseph and Clara Smallwood are the largest icebreaking passenger ferries in the world, and the largest ferry vessels operating in Canada. 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
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.
See also
- CN Marine
- Canadian National Railway
- Newfoundland Railway
- Northumberland Ferries Limited
- Bay Ferries Limited
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