MV Highlanders latest Marine Atlantic ferry to cancel crossings

Mechanical issues on another Marine Atlantic ferry have left travellers and tourism operators frustrated by more delays.

The MV Highlanders, which travels between Port aux Basques, N.L., and North Sydney, N.S., ran into a generator issue during a crossing on Saturday.Four cancellations have followed, affecting about 2,000 passengers, according to Marine Atlantic spokesperson Darrell Mercer.

Stephen Parsons of Halifax, one of the affected passengers, spent Sunday night in Port aux Basques afterhaving two crossingscancelled. He said Marine Atlantic needs better communication with passengers.

"You don't know what's going on, and so you're kind of left in limbo. Like, we didn't know whether the ferry was going to be crossing or not. So it really seems like they don't relate, or those communication mechanisms are not really strong to tell people what to do," Parsons saidfrom North Sydney.

He was able to get on another vessel, the Leif Ericsson, for his crossing Monday.

"Staff are kind of left in the dark too, it seems. You know when you call up, they're not getting a ton ofdetails they can really share with you. And that's not their fault, I don't think. The communication really needs to be improved."

The issue with the Highlanders come on the heels of another delay with theAla'suinu, the new vessel serving Argentia. Problems with the fuel and lubrication system led to several cancellations and the first voyage being delayed by about a month.

Mercer told CBC News that when all of the delays this travel season are totalled, about 10,000 passengers have been affected.

"We know that's a significant amount. We have worked very hard to try and move those passengers, recognizing the inconvenience that it's not their original departure time," he said.

"So we certainly apologize for the disruptions, but we are trying to move passengers as quickly as we can."

WATCH | Another Marine Atlantic ferry is facing mechanical problems:

Marine Atlantic is having troubles with another one of its ferries

3 months ago

Duration 1:01

The MV Highlanders is experiencing engine troubles of its own, forcing the cancellation of trips between North Sydney, N.S., and Port aux Basques. Marine Atlantic spokesperson Darrell Mercer tells CBC News he believes the issue will be resolved soon.

Mercer said vessels like the Highlanders go through preventive maintenance while in portto keep things running in good orderbut the ship had an increased workload in recent days to account for the delays caused by the problems with theAla'suinu.

The problem with the Highlander's generator has been identified, he added, and Marine Atlantic expects the boat to be back in service Monday evening.

"We've heard from our customers.There's a lot of frustration, there's no doubt," Mercer said."We are committed to fixing those problems as quickly as we can."

Parsons, who estimated he's taken over 50 crossings with Marine Atlantic, said he wants to see a more robust plan for what to do when vessels go out of service.

"It seems like they had one plan, and when that plan didn't work everything just kind of crumbled," he said.

Ferry woes could cause 'reputational damage': Hospitality N.L. chair

Craig Foley, chair of Hospitality N.L., also wants to see more planning.

He's heard from tourism operators who are frustrated by the delays.

"When there's a disruption in access to, from, or around the province, it impacts them. And certainly it also impacts the visitors," he said.

"If something has to be cancelled because of a disruption like this, there's also the potential for a reputational damage. And when people have to make such concerted efforts to get to Newfoundland and Labrador, we don't want that negative reputation as a place that's hard to get to or hard to travel around."

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