Newfoundland to decommission vintage ferry

The Newfoundland & Labrador Department of Transportation and Works has decided to decommission the 1963-built car passenger ferry M/V Inch Arran.

The 33.5 m long,16 car/40 passenger ferry has been at Clarenville Drydock, Clarenville. Newfoundland, but the originally estimated cost of repairs has soared from around Canadian $500,000 to approximately $2 million, reports The Telegram.

"Since the ferry was already slated to be decommissioned in one year, department officials felt such an investment was imprudent," reports the Telegram.

The M/V Inch Arran had been servicing the community of Little Bay Islands before its scheduled refit.

This is one of the routes that will be served by two 42 m, 16 car, 80 passenger ferries that the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador has ordered at a reported $50.5 million from Peter Kiewit Sons Co., which operates the Marystown Shipyard, in Marystown, Newfoundland.

The first is scheduled for delivery at the end of this year and the other in spring 2010.

Originally, Clarenville Drydock was to have participated in the project as a subcontractor, but it has reportedly pulled out.