Yarmouth-Maine Ferry Coming Back In 2022
HALIFAX — Ferry service between Yarmouth and Maine will resume next year.
Bay Ferries Limited runs the high-speed CAT ferry that services the route. In a recent update, the company says the CAT will start running again in the spring of 2022.
The CAT has been out of service for three years, thanks to a combination of the Covid-19 pandemic and the construction of a new terminal in Bar Harbor, Maine.
“As with air service, restarting an international ferry route requires substantial upfront investment which is impossible to recover in a very short season. Commencing in Spring 2022, we will restore service between these incredible destinations,” Bay Ferries said in a statement.
The ferry has been a point of contention in Nova Scotia.
Many in Yarmouth and the surrounding area say visitors that arrive on the CAT are vital to the region’s tourism economy. Others argue the province spends too much money on the ferry for too little return.
In 2018, the last full season the CAT ran, a total of 50,185 passengers used the service to go between Yarmouth and Portland. According to the CBC, the provincial government gave $32-million in subsidies to the ferry between 2015 and 2019.
In the latest provincial budget, put forward by former premier Iain Rankin, the government set aside more than $15-million for an operating grant for the ferry.
However, Premier Tim Houston has been critical of the service and the amount of money the government has spent propping it up.
While in opposition, Houston sued to force Bay Ferries to publicly disclose how much money in management fees it receives from the provincial government.
He won, and Bay Ferries revealed the province had been paying it close to $100,000 a month in fees since 2016.
Earlier this month, Houston questioned whether the ferry had been a success and said he wanted to meet with Bay Ferries to look at its business plan.
Huddle asked the government if that meeting has happened, and how much support the province plans to give Bay Ferries. We did not get a response by our publication deadline.
Trevor Nichols is a Huddle reporter in Halifax. Send him your feedback and story ideas: [email protected].
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