According to the application, replacement tonnage is required while CTMA’s own RoPax ferry MADELEINE II undergoes an extended scheduled maintenance docking from the beginning of 2027. Without a replacement vessel, the service between Cap-aux-Meules, Quebec, and Souris, Prince Edward Island, could not be maintained during this period, leaving the residents of the Magdalen Islands isolated.

“We have contacted several shipowners who could potentially offer a replacement solution. The particularity of the ferry service between Cap-aux-Meules and Souris is that it is an average 5-hour crossing in the waters of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The waves and winds encountered in the heart of the Gulf require a closed-deck vessel with adequate accommodations for passengers, given the 5-hour crossing duration. The responses received from our efforts were unanimous: no vessel is available to replace the MADELEINE II during the regulatory dry dock,” the application states.

CTMA adds that the company has therefore been forced to look abroad for a suitable ferry that could be taken on short-term charter.

SUPERSTAR II was acquired by Seajets from Color Line in 2022. The ferry had operated as COLOR VIKING since 2000. SUPERSTAR II was originally delivered as PEDER PAARS to the then Danish state-owned operator DSB Rederi in 1985. Seajets has not commented on reports that its ferry could be heading to Canada on charter.

Read also: Seajets buyers of COLOR VIKING

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