An unexpected mechanical failure on the Grand Manan Adventure ferry left residents, tourists, lobsters, and prom dresses stuck for more than a day on or off the island.

With the only way of getting to and from the small island community of Grand Manan temporarily out of commission and the backup in Shelburne, N.S., residents and visitors were forced to get creative to connect to the mainland for prom night.

“Grand Manan did what Grand Manan does,” said the island’s mayor, Bonnie Morse.

Justin Flagg stepped up to get his friend’s son a suit for prom over to the island. 

“There isn’t much to it,” said Flagg. “Carter called me and asked me if I wanted to go to Blacks Harbour because his suit was over there.”

He was in his boat an hour later with the soon-to-be grad, his sister, and father to collect a prom suit waiting for him on the other side. 

Flagg ended up making the journey back with other grads shoes, parents, and even the hairstylist waiting to make it over before prom. 

“Anytime if I needed to I would, it’s not a big deal,” Flagg said on if he’d do it again. “No sense in getting all frustrated and mad about it.” 

Two ferries travel between Grand Manan and mainland New Brunswick: the Grand Manan V and the Grand Manan Adventure. The thirty-five-year old Grand Manan V was finishing up regular service at the drydocks in Shelburne, N.S. when the newer Grand Manan Adventure experienced a mechanical issue causing the pause in service to the island. 

The issue forced the service to be halted for the Sunday 1:30 p.m. departure until crews were able to get the Grand Manan Adventure operational–albeit with one motor–on Monday for the 5:30 p.m. departure.

The parts required for getting the second motor operational are currently on their way up from the United States and the Grand Manan Adventure is expected to be finished by this weekend. 

The ferry is operating with one engine and has had to reduce the number of daily trips from four to three due to the reduced speed. 

“If you miss one crossing it’s very serious because you might be headed to an airport, you could be heading to a doctor, you could be heading to employment,” said Gregg Ryder, Coastal Transport’s General Manager.

“It could be anything and it affects the people and it can affect commerce as well.” 

Ryder said since 2011 Coastal Transport has made 99.31% of all scheduled crossings. Getting the annual average of about 200,000 individuals, 100,000 vehicles, and many commercial transportation on and off the island. 

“She was headed to see her oncologist,” said Flagg, whose wife missed an appointment off island. Now rescheduled for next week she had to move her appointment from the Monday due to the ferry. 

Not only were residents stuck without a means off the island, visitors as well. Some had work and even flights to catch on the mainland.

“I have two clients back in Woodstock that have to have fill-ins because I’m not there,” said Melanie McGuire, an in-home support worker and Woodstock resident who was visiting her sister on the island.

 “I’m missing work, I’ve missed all of today and I’m missing part of tomorrow,” said McGuire. 

As an in-home care worker she said it is difficult on her older clients that rely on her consistent care.

“It’s not anybody’s fault, the workers are stuck over there too,” she said. 

“I have a cat who is probably running out of food right now and I’ve got to get a hold of someone to see if they can get into and make sure he’s okay,” said McGuire. “I only planned on being gone for the weekend.”

McGuire was able to spend the extra time with her sister but others had to figure out places to stay for the extra night they had to spend on the island. 

This delay also had a major economic impact on the island’s businesses. 

“We had to cancel a little over $600,000 in value of product that didn’t get shipped out in time,” said Casey Benson, CEO of Benson Lobster Co. Ltd. 

While the product was able to get off the island eventually it was significantly delayed. 

But this year’s business is not like previous years. Benson has started to diversify their business into European markets and having the ferry delay their shipments was a big blow.

“This was going to be the third shipment to these new customers,” said Benson. “The third one is always used to be a big one, we start getting some consistency and some momentum going.” 

Benson said his customers don’t care where their lobsters come from, they care if they get their lobsters. 

“If I say we can’t deliver because our ferry’s not running, then is that going to be in the back of their mind going forward?” 

Benson said many customers will avoid suppliers that cannot guarantee their shipments will get out on time.

“The ferry is definitely our highway, our lifeline, but also the limiting factor in how quickly the economy can grow on the island,” said Benson.

Morse said this issue makes it difficult to encourage people to come to the island. 

“It’s hard to encourage people to want to stay, ‘Come to Grand Manan,’ and you may or may not be able to have a suit to go to your prom,” said Morse.“That’s a bit of an exaggeration,” she said, expressing the difficulties of attracting more people to her growing village that relies entirely on ferries. 

She said the municipality is talking to the province about what the contingency plan is for the ferries. 

“As any type of machine gets older, it becomes more prone to breakdown.” 

As the Grand Manan V gets older the village of Grand Manan is exploring options for a replacement. But given the ferry is owned by the province it will take buy-in from the province as well.

But she said those plans are still far into the future.

“The province owns both vessels currently providing service to Grand Manan island, so if a replacement for the Grand Manan V is needed in the future, the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DTI) would lead that process and explore all funding options,” said Jacob MacDonald, communications officer for transportation and infrastructure New Brunswick, in a statement to The Courier.

“The department will continue to work closely with Coastal Transport Ltd. to provide a safe and reliable ferry service for the community of Grand Manan,” said MacDonald. 

The Grand Manan Adventure will have the necessary repairs made early this weekend and the Grand Manan V will be operational for June 23.