Portland officials were looking for another tenant for high-speed ferry?

May 31, 2005

Does the last sentence of this article mean that the new ferry employees will

use the contaminated building in Portland???

erested_in_taking_scotia_prince_to_boston/

YARMOUTH, Nova Scotia -- A group of American investors is hoping to launch a

ferry service between Nova Scotia and Boston.

The proposal calls for the ferry to sail from Boston to Shelburne, Nova Scotia,

on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, beginning this summer. It would make the 12-

to 14-hour return trip on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

Organizers are negotiating to lease the Scotia Prince, which made regular runs

between Portland, Maine, and Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, for years before the service

was canceled last month.

One of the investors, Gene Hartigan of Boston's Shores Atlantic LLC, said the

announcement of the Boston-to-Shelburne route could come within days.

" It's less about whether it will become a reality but more about when it will

begin, " he said. " I would say the window right now would be between July 1 and

August 1. Obviously it would be an abbreviated season. "

Lydia Deinstadt, manager of the Shelburne Visitor Centre, said it would give the

town at Nova Scotia's southern tip an economic boost it needs.

The 32-year-old Scotia Prince and its predecessor, the Prince of Fundy, provided

ferry service from Portland, Maine, to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, for 35 years. The

ferry can accommodate up to 1,000 passengers and 185 vehicles.

Earlier this year, its owners canceled their season and put the Scotia Prince up

for sale. They filed a $20 million lawsuit against the city of Portland for its

alleged failure to address toxic mold at the city-owned International Marine

Terminal.

City officials say they made $1.2 million worth of improvements to the terminal

and defended their decision to terminate the ferry's $400,000-a-year lease after

the cruise company canceled its 2005 season.

Portland officials were looking for another tenant, possibly The Cat, the

high-speed ferry that now runs between Bar Harbor, Maine, and Nova Scotia.

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