PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The Nova Star ferry that runs between Portland and Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, is ending an inaugural season that failed to reach passenger goals a few weeks early, officials said Monday.
The ferry will depart Portland for the last time on Oct. 14 instead of Nov. 2, as originally planned, allowing Nova Star Cruises to focus on finding offseason opportunities and returning stronger in the spring.
“It’s taken time to bring the service back after a five-year hiatus from having the ferry in place,” Nova Star Cruises president Mark Amundsen said. “With that being said, we have good optimism for the 2015 season.”
The 650 passengers hurt by the early cancellation will each get a full refund, along with a free reservation for the remainder of the current season or half-price on a booking next season.
The 528-foot cruise ferry, with cabin space for 600 passengers, began service in May, restoring daily ferry service between Portland and Yarmouth. The Scotia Prince ran from 1982 to 2004, and The Cat, a high-speed ferry, operated from 2006 to 2009. The Scotia Prince topped out at about 150,000 passengers per season.
Business got off to a slow start in the spring but is picking up.
Nova Star had more than 45,000 passengers including more than 20,000 passengers in August. Before the season, company officials said they’d hoped to have 100,000 passengers in the inaugural season.
Ridership jumped 55 percent from July to August.
Part of the problem with the fall season is that the service started too late for the company to lock in contracts for motor coaches, which are popular for fall foliage trips, Amundsen said.
After its final run next month, the ferry will reside temporarily in Yarmouth while the company looks for winter work or alternative berthing. Whether Nova Star finds work this winter will make a difference in determining whether the company’s Canadian-subsidized service ends the season in the red or in the black, Amundsen said.
