Portland-Nova Scotia ferry to restart in May
A Maine company has reached a final deal with the Canadian province of Nova Scotia to restart a ferry service from the province to Portland in May.
The Portland Press Herald reported that final selection of the Maine-based consortium STM Quest means the company will soon receive $10.5 million from the province to pay startup costs for the new service. The company will then get $1.5 million annually, for seven years, from the province to pay for marketing the service.
The agreement will restore ferry service between Portland and the Canadian province, which ended with the closure of the high-speed Cat ferry in 2009.
Gerard Kiladijan, general manager of the Portland Harbor Hotel, told the paper the new service will help bring more people from Nova Scotia and tourists from the Boston area and elsewhere who may stay in Portland on the way to Nova Scotia. That increase, he said, stands to help to fill the 630 hotel rooms the city will add downtown next year.
The Eliot-based Quest Navigation Inc. has partnered with ST Marine Ltd. of Singapore to run the service and will now bring a ferry built in Singapore to the Gulf of Maine. That ferry, the Nova Star, has 162 cabins, two restaurants and will include a theater-conference center and a casino.
Mark Amundsen, president of STM Quest, reported the vessel will arrive in Portland in April for inspections by the Coast Guard. According to a press release from Gov. Paul LePage’s office, the company estimates 100,000 passengers will travel on the ferry in its season, with daily trips from May to October.
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