Bay Ferries suspends CAT

[98288]

No, it's not an age thing. I was just taking a tangent and drawing parallels between some of the new BMW bikes and the CAT. IMHO, these vehicles/vessels are developed for a niche market and might soon be forgotten.

BTW - what is your tub?

just a slang reference. I don't have anything that travels by water..... I would be a very poor sailor I'm afraid. Swim like a convulsing rock anyway.

Agree with your point of old/new but some of the new stuff can really dazzle ya though. Long term endearment? Time will tell.

Big negotiations going on now regarding the need for ferry service of some sort year round between NS and Maine. -Bob

[MAYLETT]

Dang it! My wife and I caught a ride on the CAT from Yarmouth to Bar Harbor just a couple of weeks after it started operation several years back, and it was packed. I was looking forward to doing it again someday.

[98288]

Dang it! My wife and I caught a ride on the CAT from Yarmouth to Bar Harbor just a couple of weeks after it started operation several years back, and it was packed. I was looking forward to doing it again someday.

Well....... let's see where the negotiations go. A single hull just may be to your liking for a romantic cruise We had the good fortune to do that prior to the CAT and it really was a great time. Hope that such a thing does happen for us all again. - Bob

[tommcgee]

Nova Scotia hopes to keep Maine ferry

Service by The Cat isn't worth subsidizing but a traditional ferry might be, says Premier Darell Dexter.

By TOM BELL, Staff Writer
December 24, 2009

PORTLAND ÔÇö Nova Scotia Premier Darrell Dexter may be willing to subsidize ferry service between Maine and Nova Scotia, but he won't give any more money to The Cat, Dexter's press secretary said Wednesday.

A federally funded study on southwest Nova Scotia's transportation options, including ferry service, is scheduled to be completed in March. Dexter will ask the Canadian government to put the study on the fast track so it can be delivered to him in January, press secretary Jennifer Stewart said in a telephone interview.

"We are looking at the best option for replacing The Cat ferry service, and that is going to come from the study," she said.

Since 2005, the province has invested $21 million in ferry service between Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, and Bar Harbor and Portland. Stewart said The Cat is not a sustainable service and is not a good investment.

Last week, Bay Ferries Ltd. announced that the loss of the subsidy had forced it to end the service. Last year, it received $5.65 million from the government to help it offset higher fuel prices and lower passenger numbers.

The Cat is a high-speed catamaran. Yarmouth officials and business leaders believe that a traditional, single-hull ferry has a better chance for success because it would be more fuel-efficient and have more room to carry trucks. The Cat does not carry trucks. A delegation of officials and business leaders met with Dexter on Wednesday morning. The delegation urged the premier to fund The Cat for one more summer to give it time to recruit another vessel.

Julie Walters, a tourism development officer in Yarmouth who attended the meeting, said that Dexter's plan is not helpful because it won't leave enough time to find another vessel.

She said The Cat must operate next summer to keep the U.S. market engaged in Nova Scotia, and to sustain service businesses in Yarmouth. For example, two hotels have said they will have to close if there is no ferry service to Yarmouth.

"We need a new vessel. There is not time to find a new vessel between now and May 15. We need to keep this link alive," she said. "This is not good news, and it really is not acceptable news."

She said Yarmouth officials are gathering support from around the province and will continue putting pressure on Dexter to reconsider.

Staff Writer Tom Bell can be contacted at 791-6369 or at:

tbell@pressherald.com

Copyright 2009 by The Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram. All rights reserved.

[98288]

Nova Scotia hopes to keep Maine ferry

Service by The Cat isn't worth subsidizing but a traditional ferry might be, says Premier Darell Dexter.

By TOM BELL, Staff Writer
December 24, 2009

PORTLAND ÔÇö Nova Scotia Premier Darrell Dexter may be willing to subsidize ferry service between Maine and Nova Scotia, but he won't give any more money to The Cat, Dexter's press secretary said Wednesday.

A federally funded study on southwest Nova Scotia's transportation options, including ferry service, is scheduled to be completed in March. Dexter will ask the Canadian government to put the study on the fast track so it can be delivered to him in January, press secretary Jennifer Stewart said in a telephone interview.

"We are looking at the best option for replacing The Cat ferry service, and that is going to come from the study," she said.

Since 2005, the province has invested $21 million in ferry service between Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, and Bar Harbor and Portland. Stewart said The Cat is not a sustainable service and is not a good investment.

Last week, Bay Ferries Ltd. announced that the loss of the subsidy had forced it to end the service. Last year, it received $5.65 million from the government to help it offset higher fuel prices and lower passenger numbers.

The Cat is a high-speed catamaran. Yarmouth officials and business leaders believe that a traditional, single-hull ferry has a better chance for success because it would be more fuel-efficient and have more room to carry trucks. The Cat does not carry trucks. A delegation of officials and business leaders met with Dexter on Wednesday morning. The delegation urged the premier to fund The Cat for one more summer to give it time to recruit another vessel.

Julie Walters, a tourism development officer in Yarmouth who attended the meeting, said that Dexter's plan is not helpful because it won't leave enough time to find another vessel.

She said The Cat must operate next summer to keep the U.S. market engaged in Nova Scotia, and to sustain service businesses in Yarmouth. For example, two hotels have said they will have to close if there is no ferry service to Yarmouth.

"We need a new vessel. There is not time to find a new vessel between now and May 15. We need to keep this link alive," she said. "This is not good news, and it really is not acceptable news."

She said Yarmouth officials are gathering support from around the province and will continue putting pressure on Dexter to reconsider.

Staff Writer Tom Bell can be contacted at 791-6369 or at:

tbell@pressherald.com

Copyright 2009 by The Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram. All rights reserved.

ya, just caught that this morning. The January fast-track will likely dove-tail with some immediate tendering options on single hull. Likely negotiations with Marine Atlantic and their year-round ferry experience. Wait and see. - Bob

[tommcgee]

I took the ferry to Block Island, RI a couple of months ago to do a service call. They are running two boats in tandem, a traditional ferry that takes an hour for the 14 mile crossing and a high speed cat that does it in half the time.

I imagine there was a price difference, but I took the slow boat since I was gonna be gone all day anyway.

Their high speed boat is for passengers only.