It is commonplace nowadays for new ships to be built on continents far from where they are actually going to operate with delivery either being made unaided or via a “piggyback” ride aboard a heavy lift ship to all regions of the globe. Furthermore, the percentage of ships meeting their maker far from where they concluded their working lives is also of course very high. Several of Canada’s domestic ferries can trace their roots back to European countries as either newbuilds, second hand purchases or converted tonnage with the 12,000gt/2014 built F.-A.-Gauthier (Fincantieri, Italy),10,193gt/2000 built Fundy rose (ex-Blue Star Ithaki) and 28,460gt/2006 built Blue Putees (ex-Stena Trader, converted from Ro-Ro to Ro-Pax) falling in to these respective categories. The latest example of a ferry being spawned in Europe for service in Canadian waters is the unassuming yet very purposeful veteran, ordered by the Canadian government to modernise the Farewell-Fogo island-Change islands service.

Fogo Island is the largest of the offshore islands of Newfoundland and Labrador and lies off the northeast coast of Newfoundland, northwest of Musgrave Harbour across Hamilton Sound, just east of the Change islands. The island is about 25 km long and 14 km wide with a total area of 237.71 km². The island has a population of around 2,450. Meanwhile the Change islands is a 200-strong community outpost spanning two small islands of the same name which lie off the northeast coast of the island of Newfoundland between Notre Dame Bay and the Labrador Sea. Both sets of islands became permanent settlements in the 18th century. The ferry service that runs from Farewell on route 235, a north-easterly point in central Newfoundland on the road to the isles scenic driving route, sails visitors to Change islands in 20 minutes (6km). The crossing from Farewell to Fogo Island is approximately 45 minutes (13km). At the time of writing the ferry service was operated by the elderly ferry Capt. Earl W. Winsor with a capacity of 60 cars/200 passengers and assistance was provided by the 387gt/1968 Norcon Galatea (20 cars/70 passenger capacity). The 1,772gt/1972 built Capt. Earl W. Winsor assumed her name in 1998 when renamed from the Prince Edward after the late Captain, a veteran seaman. The Canadian built vessel had been purchased for the route in 1997.

The Department of Transportation and Works Marine Services Branch is responsible for the provision, maintenance, and management of provincial ferry vessels providing service via 42 ports throughout Newfoundland and Labrador. Annually, the Newfoundland and Labrador provincial ferries transport approximately 900,000 passengers, 400,000 vehicles, and 20,000 tonnes of freight across more than 50,000 arrivals and departures. Marine operations include seven vessels owned and operated by the department, two vessels owned by the department and privately operated (through a contract with the government of Newfoundland and Labrador), one privately owned vessel that is operated by the department, and eight privately-owned contracted vessels. In 2014-15, the Fogo island/Change islands ferry service transported 152,600 passengers and 78,100 vehicles whilst the Bell island ferry service transported 463,764 passengers and 227,510 vehicles. The Bell island service is the busiest ferry route in the province, and surpasses the number of passengers and vehicles that use Marine Atlantic on an annual basis. 

A Born Veteran 

on 13th November 2013 the Newfoundland and Labrador Provincial government announced that it had awarded Damen Shipyards a $(CAD)51 million contract for an 80m long passenger and vehicle ferry to serve the Fogo island-Change islands link. The newbuild will replace the 43 year old Captain Earl W. Winsor. At Christmas in 2013 a $(CAD) 49.5m state-of-the-art sistership was ordered for the Bell island and Portugal Cove-St. Philip’s service. On the latter route the 831gt/1985 built Beaumont Hamel will be replaced whilst the 1,035gt/1990 built Flanders will continue to serve Bell Island. A further $(CAD) 10m was to be spent on berth works to accept the new vessel. The two newbuilds were scheduled for delivery in September 2015 and February 2016. A total of 15 tenders were received for each vessel. The 14-knot Ro-Pax ferries, capable of carrying up to 200 passengers and 64 vehicles are of the Damen 8017 design that was first put to paper by naval architects Fleetway and Knud E Hansen. The shipyard within the Damen group to be awarded the contract was the Santierul Naval Damen Galati SA facility in Galati, Romania, on the banks of the river Danube. There has been shipping craftsmanship here since the end of the 15th century and the history of the shipyard itself dates back to the year 1893, when it was established under the name Santierul Naval Fernic Galati (Fernic Shipyard Galati). Now Damen Shipyards Galati is a modern yard with a diverse portfolio. In 1994, Damen started co-operating with Galati by subcontracting hulls of cargo vessels to the yard. This co-operation worked out very well and in 1999 the shipyard officially joined Damen Shipyards. The first steel was cut for Yard No. 539305 on 9th May 2014 followed by the keel laying on 20th august 2014. The construction continued apace and in March 2015 the identity of the first newbuild was announced as the veteran, a name chosen in honour of Canadians who wear a uniform and serve/have served their country. The vessel will also pay tribute to four notable women and men from Fogo Island and the Change islands, with the observation deck named in honour of A.R. Scammell, and the passenger lounges named after Capt. Fred Chaffey, Capt. Patrick Miller and Margaret Cobb. Arthur Reginald Scammell was born on the Change islands in 1913, and was a prominent member of the province’s arts community. He is a recipient of the order of Canada, and composed the song Squid Jiggin’ ground. Captains Fred Chaffey and Patrick Miller both operated a ferry service that connected the Change islands and Fogo Island to mainland Newfoundland for many years, while Margaret Cobb was a well-known nurse on Fogo Island. The veteran took to the waters of the river Danube on 27th March 2015 where fitting out continued prior to sea trials. Yard No. 539306 became the Legionnaire and was launched on 23rd July 2015. She will operate on the short-haul route from Portugal Cove to Bell Island, the busiest route of the province. The Legionnaire was named in honour of the country’s veterans as well as the 100th anniversary of the First World War. The launch coincided with Damen taking a step further towards setting up a Damen certified service and maintenance centre in St. John’s, the capital of the Newfoundland and Labrador region.

On the Legionnaire, the observation deck will be called the Harry Hibbs observation Deck, while the two passenger lounges will be called the David Nish Jackman Lounge and the Tom Fitzgeralds’ Lounge – Senior and Big Tom.

Fit for Battle 

The Damen 8017 design is 80.90m in length with a beam of 17.20m, scantling draught of 4.30m and hull depth to main deck of 12.25m. The hull is strengthened to Class 1aa standards that permit a speed of 4 knots through 0.4m thick solid first year ice. The usual service speed is 14 knots with propulsion provided by two Rolls Royce B5J 500 LC6 1600kW contra rotating azimuth thrust units equipped with 2600mm diameter ice strength fixed pitch propellers. These are powered via a diesel electric system consisting of three Caterpillar 3512C C main engines (1,700 kWe, 440v, 3ph / 60 Hz @ 1,800 rpm). Each Damen 8017 vessel offers a total of 350 and 190 lanemetres (lm) for cars and trucks respectively. The main deck (Deck 3) offers 275lm of capacity for 50 cars plus the aforementioned 190lm for 6 trucks. The main deck clear height is 5.00m and 4.70m beneath the hoistable mezzanine decks when stowed. The clear height above and beneath the single lane mezzanine decks when deployed (located on either side of the main deck) is 2.20m. The hoistable platforms (Deck 4) each offer 37.50lm, equivalent to 7 cars. The vessel’s design deadweight is 927.9 tonnes. Macgregor, part of Cargotec, secured the contract for the design and delivery of key components for ro-ro access equipment for these ferries, namely the bow doors, bow ramp/door, stern ramp, shell doors and the hoistable car deck system. The accommodation is located on Decks 5 & 6. The forward passenger lounge on Deck 5 has 130 seats with the aft lounge able to seat 85 passengers. Overall passenger seating totals 215 places. Three sets of toilet facilities are provided, two in the passenger lounges and one for disabled personnel. Two elevators are also provided, one for passengers and the other for services from Decks 3 and 5. The crew accommodation on Deck 6 features 15 single crew cabins (basic crew is 10 persons), a mess room and a day room. Catering facilities consist of a galley and a serving area.

Epic Voyage 

The 4,459gt veteran began her delivery voyage to Canada on the weekend of 15th august 2015 bound for Newfoundland and Labrador with an estimated arrival date of 7th September. On 24th august came the news that problems had occurred with one of the ship’s three engines and she had diverted to Malta so officials from the German manufacturer of the engine could assess the problem.

Arrangements were put in place to complete repairs there with further work being done in St. Johns upon arrival. However, a rethink saw the veteran make her way back to the shipyard in Galati so that the engine could be exchanged by the manufacturer. The little ship then set out on her month long voyage again and was in Gibraltar on 22nd September. On 29th September the vessel arrived at Horta in the Azores to take shelter due to adverse weather. Multiple weather systems in the North Atlantic tried their best to disrupt the passage, including Hurricane Joaquin. A week-long weather window was required for the final leg of the trip from The Azores to St. Johns and the veteran set off again on 10th October on the homeward run. Originally the arrival in Newfoundland and Labrador included sail pasts of both Fogo Island and the Change islands ahead of a formal handover on 11th September and six weeks of crew training. Naturally, the engine issue and bad weather set this back by around 6 weeks with, at the time of writing, her arrival expected the week beginning 19th October. A service debut was estimated for late November onwards. The addition of the veteran to the province fleet is a great advancement in the project to build a modern ferry service, ensuring stronger transportation links for all residents with less bad weather and breakdown disruption and a reduction in the need to use Coastguard ice breakers in winter. The improved ferry link will also support the economic and social development of rural communities along with the region’s Population growth Strategy.

Technical Specifications