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Post by WettCoast on Nov 1, 2015 12:24:03 GMT -8
Things have taken a turn for the worse with Nova Star ... www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/nova-star-seizure-1.3298863Nova Star seizure ordered by U.S. Federal Court due to unpaid bills
Nova Star Cruises says it has paid 'most of its supplier costs' and plans to pay the rest
CBC News Posted: Nov 01, 2015 10:08 AM AT A U.S. federal court has ordered the seizure of the Nova Star ferry following complaints from a company that says it is owed close to $200,000, court documents show. CBC News has obtained the U.S. District Court order to the U.S. Marshals Service to take possession of the ship operated by Nova Star Cruises. The ferry provided daily passenger service across the Gulf of Maine between Yarmouth, N.S., and Portland, Maine, from June until mid-October.
The "Warrant for the Arrest of the Vessel" ordered the seizure of the MV Nova Star, "her engines, boilers, tackle, appurtenances, electronics, or other property." It says an individual or corporation has 14 days to make a claim to the seized property. A copy of the document, which was provided to CBC News by the Portland Press Herald, is dated Oct. 30 in Portland.
For the remainder of this story follow the link above ...
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Post by Kahloke on Nov 1, 2015 13:23:29 GMT -8
Thanks for posting this. It is not good news for Nova Star. I will be surprised if the vessel returns for a 2016 season. It's too large of a ship for the kind of passenger and vehicle loads they've been getting. They really need a smaller vessel to operate the service, something around the size of Fundy Rose or Northern Expedition. It makes me glad I got a chance to get a trip on Nova Star this year, especially given the current state of the company. |
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Post by Starsteward on Nov 2, 2015 9:55:42 GMT -8
Should we hold our collective breaths waiting for the Nova Scotia government's minister responsible for that file to explain to the good taxpayers of the province how north of 13 million dollars has now, it appears been lost in a venture that started out with some serious
concerns.
while the 'Nova Star' is a very nice vessel, wasn't it just a wee bit too big for the traffic on that route?
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Mill Bay
Voyager 
Long Suffering Bosun
Posts: 2,887 
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Post by Mill Bay on Nov 2, 2015 16:53:42 GMT -8
Thanks for posting this. It is not good news for Nova Star. I will be surprised if the vessel returns for a 2016 season. It's too large of a ship for the kind of passenger and vehicle loads they've been getting. They really need a smaller vessel to operate the service, something around the size of Fundy Rose or Northern Expedition. It makes me glad I got a chance to get a trip on Nova Star this year, especially given the current state of the company. Maybe they should trade ships for the Fundy Rose. I was reading some articles today about how the local transport companies in the Fundy region don't believe the Fundy Rose has enough truck capacity to handle the shipments during the lobster season which is probably happening, now.
Apparently Transport Canada settled on purchasing the ship, with it's smaller capacity, by averaging out the truck traffic for the entire year, and thereby failed to take into account any seasonal extremes in traffic flow. It's also intriguing how TC itself bought the ship, and not Bay Ferries which operates it. Imagine if Transport Canada handpicked all of BCFerries new vessels.
One of the articles mentioned that the Nova Star could be an alternative for truck traffic that exceeds the Fundy Rose's capacity, but apparently that's not an option, either, at the moment.
As for the minister responsible, apparently the Nova Scotia government is currently in talks with Bay Ferries Ltd. to take over the Yarmouth route, again, since they use to operate it in the past, but with a high-speed cat ferry interestingly, enough. There are also other companies apparently interested in running the service, but it would, no doubt, be surprising if one of them was able to step forward with a suitable vessel ready to place in service.
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ghYHZ
Oiler (New Member)
Posts: 17
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Post by ghYHZ on Nov 8, 2015 6:34:36 GMT -8
...........apparently the Nova Scotia government is currently in talks with Bay Ferries Ltd. to take over the Yarmouth route, again, since they use to operate it in the past, but with a high-speed cat ferry interestingly, enough. There are also other companies apparently interested in running the service, but it would, no doubt, be surprising if one of them was able to step forward with a suitable vessel ready to place in service.
Glad to see negotiations have started with NFL-Bay to take over the Yarmouth-Portland run.
Bay Ferries’ parent company Northumberland Ferries has been in business since 1941.....running the service between Wood Islands, Prince Edward Island and Caribou, Nova Scotia and also the Saint John – Digby run since 1997....now with the Fundy Rose.
Here’s the Confederation (L) and Holiday Island (R) at Caribou, NS.
......and a wall mural on the “Confederation” telling a bit of company history on one of their early ferries.
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Post by Kahloke on Jan 25, 2016 11:40:36 GMT -8
This isn't exactly "new" news, nor is it surprising, but Nova Star's demise is now officially on the company's home page. novastarcruises.com/I'm sad they could not get this to work, but the vessel really was too large for what was essentially a "start-up" type of service. It does make me even more glad that I got a chance to experience Nova Star last summer. |
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Post by roeco on Jan 27, 2016 17:00:20 GMT -8
Nova Star would be IDEAL for a Summer Vancouver/Seattle to Alaska service much like Sundance Cruises did with the Stardancer in the 80's caqrry cars and passengers.
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Post by Kahloke on Jan 27, 2016 18:56:51 GMT -8
Nova Star would be IDEAL for a Summer Vancouver/Seattle to Alaska service much like Sundance Cruises did with the Stardancer in the 80's caqrry cars and passengers. As a cruise type of ferry, it would be quite a nice ship to sail to Alaska on from either Seattle or Vancouver, but even on our coast, I think it would be difficult to regularly fill Nova Star's 336 vehicle spaces and 163 cabins. I think the owners of the vessel will have a better chance of leasing it out, or selling it, to a European operator, who can put it on a crossing where the vessel is a better match for the traffic levels. |
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