Following a one-year interruption in service, a seasonal ferry between Campobello and Deer Island is expected to return to its run by mid-June, if not sooner. The lack of the ferry service had caused a significant economic impact on Campobello last summer and had prompted the renewed push for a year-round ferry to the island, which would eliminate the need to cross the border to reach the Canadian mainland.
     Leanne Silvaggio of East Coast Ferries, which has operated the seasonal run from mid-June to the end of September for many years, says the new barge that was constructed this past year for the ferry service is expected to be inspected by Transport Canada before the end of May. The 18-vehicle barge is about the same size as the previous one, which had sunk in December 2017 at the Lord's Cove wharf on Deer Island, where it was tied up for the winter. East Coast Ferries had hoped to have had the new barge ready for the run last year, but weather delayed finishing construction until late summer, and since then the company has faced delays in getting the barge inspected.
     "We've tried to get it inspected since last August," Silvaggio says. Transport Canada had always provided the inspection of vessels in the past, but this time East Coast Ferries had to obtain an exemption to get the government department to inspect the barge. For vessels longer than 24 meters, a third-party inspection, paid for by the vessel owner, is now required. Only seven companies in Canada offer the service, and some of them declined or didn't respond to inquiries from East Coast Ferries. To obtain an exemption from Transport Canada, the company had to get refusals from five of the companies, which has delayed the inspection process. One inspection has already been done by another company, so Silvaggio expected the Transport Canada inspection to go well. "It's been a trying year to get that vessel done," she says.
     As for the service this year, Silvaggio states, "We will do a regular season, to the end of September." While there have been discussions about extending the season to assist the island's residents with transportation issues and also about a provincial subsidy for the run to Campobello, Silvaggio says, "nothing has been written in stone."
     East Coast Ferries' service on the Kennebecasis Island run on the Saint John River had been expected to end this year, which would free up the company's other vessel, but Silvaggio reports that they will continue there for another year. Reportedly, the ferry that the provincial government had constructed for the service has been having problems.
     Concerning the restoration of the ferry service between Deer Island and Eastport, which East Coast Ferries had operated until 2015, Silvaggio says that they have continued to discuss the possibility and would like to bring the run back, but she notes, "That ferry didn't make any money.      We had to make a business decision and go elsewhere."
     If a provincial subsidy is provided for extended service to Campobello, Silvaggio says that could help offset any losses from an Eastport run. "We wouldn't pass up on an opportunity," she says. As for bringing a Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) office back to Deer Island, which would be needed for an Eastport to Deer Island ferry, she has not heard any more since the federal government indicated, when it closed the port of entry at Deer Island Point in 2017, that the ferry operator might have to cover the cost of manning the seasonal CBSA office on Deer Island.