N.S.-P.E.I. ferry resumes service after being out of commission for 2 weeks

The ferry running between P.E.I. and Nova Scotia has resumed weeks earlier than expected.

The first departure was at 7 a.m. Saturday from Wood Islands, P.E.I.

The service shut down June 17 after MV Confederation experienced a mechanical problem that required a new part.

It was believed the vessel wouldn't be ready to resume service until mid-July because the part wasn't stocked anywhere in the world and had to be built from scratch. The replacement was manufactured in Germany and shipped to Canada.

Shortly after the disruption was announced, an official with Northumberland Ferries told CBC that the part was like the vanilla-cream layer in an Oreo cookie, with the ship's main engine representing one chocolate wafer and the equipment powering the propellers being the other side of the cookie.

In a statement issued Friday, Northumberland Ferries said it "did everything possible to speed up the manufacturing and delivery of the new part and have been able to expedite delivery with great co-operation from the supplier and all supporting agencies."

As of Friday, MV Confederation had been off its run for nearly two weeks, leaving no vehicle or passenger ferry service between eastern P.E.I. and the mainland at the start of the busy summer tourism season. 

That had many local business owners who rely on traffic from tourists taking the ferry worried about the potential impacts of a service disruption that could last for weeks.

"Tourists like the Island experience in taking the boat to or from the Island," said Gloria Shaw, manager of the Wood Islands Lighthouse Museum.

"It was a great disappointment to a lot of people when it shut down — and it very much shut down the traffic in this area."

Shaw said Canada Day is normally a slow day at the museum due to events happening in Charlottetown and elsewhere on the Island, but that Saturday was busier than what she was expecting.

"We're just very glad to see the ferry crossing today. It was a sight to behold," she said.

Not only tourists but Island residents, truckers and other business travellers were left with only two options — take the Confederation Bridge linking Borden-Carleton, P.E.I., to New Brunswick, or fly. 

Alex Larkin, who's from New Glasgow, said he found out the ferry was resuming service around midnight. He said it didn't take him too long to decide to buy a ticket.