Murray Ryder, president of Coastal Transport Ltd., said that the ferry must be drydocked to allow further repairs to be made to one of the bow thrusters. The ferry will go into drydock after Sept. 11 for about 10 days, plus travel time to Eastern Shipbuilding's Panama City, Fla, shipyard.
The repairs are covered under the warranty and the Department of Transportation says that they will not result in any interruption to the normal ferry service provided during this period for passengers traveling between Blacks Harbour and Grand Manan Island.
Delivered by Eastern Shipbuilding July 20, the $68 million, 82 vehicle ferry entered service August 11, but was out of service until August 18 after an August 15 bow thruster failure.