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Island Ferry Nightmare: New Boat Sparks Outages
24 Dec
Summary
- New electric ferry experienced electrical issues, causing prolonged service disruptions.
- Island residents face significant business losses and personal hardships due to ferry failures.
- Residents express frustration, comparing current issues unfavorably to the previous ferry.
The Wolfe Islander IV, a new electric ferry serving an island community south of Kingston, Ontario, has been mired in service disruptions since its introduction in August 2024. Residents are expressing deep frustration over the latest prolonged outage, which began Monday morning due to an electrical issue and was anticipated to extend into Tuesday afternoon.
This recurring unreliability has created significant hardship. Longtime resident Mike Green reported business losses and employee downtime, noting that the new ferry has been a "nightmare" compared to its predecessor, the Wolfe Islander III. Other residents have faced difficulties accessing mainland services, with one family nearly being stranded with a newborn.
The Ministry of Transportation is working to secure a temporary vessel and has assured emergency services remain available. However, residents like Claire Morris are demanding greater transparency from the ministry, highlighting the ongoing impact on daily life, including mail service interruptions and the inability for children to participate in activities in Kingston.
