Crossings between P.E.I. and Nova Scotia are cancelled for the rest of the weekend and passengers have yet to retrieve their vehicles as a fire continues to burn aboard MV Holiday Island.
The fire broke out in the engine room late Friday morning as the ferry, which runs between Caribou, N.S., and Wood Islands, P.E.I., was close to docking on the P.E.I. side.
Northumberland Ferries Limited originally reported there were 182 passengers on board. That was updated to about 230 passengers on Friday afternoon.
Saturday morning, Don Cormier, vice-president of Northumberland Ferries, said in a release that the fire “continues to burn inside of the engine room space and exhaust funnels of the Holiday Island.”
He said the ship’s crew, as well as 14 local firefighters from the surrounding districts, discontinued efforts to extinguish the fire around 9:30 p.m. Friday night.
“The ship was evacuated of all crew and firefighters out of an abundance of caution for the safety of the ship’s crew and firefighters due to the fire and condition of the ship at night,” Cormier said.
“The fire has continued overnight and our teams are continuing to assess the situation. The fire still appears to be contained primarily in the engine room and funnels of the ship. At this time, smoke can still be seen coming from the funnels of the ship and engine room vents.”
In another release later Saturday afternoon, Cormier said the Canadian Coast Guard has been standing by the ship throughout the night and continues to monitor the situation.
As well, the tug Svittzer Bedford, “which has some firefighting capability,” has been able to apply some boundary cooling to the sides of the ship and car decks and an environmental response organization has deployed a boom around the ship as a precautionary measure.
‘A chance’ vehicles can’t be recovered
Cormier said the company is still “assessing the feasibility of a ship recovery plan in conjunction with Coast Guard and local fire authorities.”
“In general terms, the current plan under consideration would be to tow the ship into Wood Islands harbour during high tide with two tugs and to secure the ship in berth,” he said. “Once secured in berth, firefighting crews would attempt to finally extinguish the fire.”
There are currently 83 vehicles on the two car decks of the ship, he said, and all pets were safely evacuated with passengers. There were also no livestock on board.
It’s still unclear when, or if, passengers will be able to retrieve their vehicles.
“We understand the impact this is having on our customers. We are doing everything possible to try to recover those vehicles and personal belongings as soon as possible,” said Cormier.
“We appreciate everyone’s patience as we must execute ship recovery and firefighting in a safe and environmentally focused way. There is still a chance that, despite everyone’s best efforts, we may not be able to recover the vehicles.”
He said customer care teams are working with impacted customers “with the focus on returning them to their place of residence.”
“There are virtually no available accommodations to be found in PEI and no rental vehicles. If vehicle recovery efforts are successful, we will assist in organizing return of vehicles to their owners,” he said.
“We will continue to separately and directly communicate with our customers concerning all of the above.”
Cormier noted that service using the MV Confederation — the other vessel used for the ferry between the two provinces — remains suspended Saturday and Sunday. He said an update on service resumption will be provided Sunday afternoon.
— with a file from The Canadian Press
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