FREDERICTON (April 17, 2000) — An additional ferry will operate to and from Grand Manan from May 1 to May 28, New Brunswick Transport Minister Margaret-Ann Blaney announced last week.

The MV Grand Manan and the MV Nada, a chartered vessel, will make seven trips per day to and from the island. The operation of the extra ferry will provide additional capacity of up to 42 tractor-trailers per day.

This will be the first time the provincial government will charter a vessel to operate in conjunction with existing ferry service.

Blaney also announced changes to the 2000-2001 ferry schedule. In 1999-2000, the ferry schedule was expanded to include an additional crossing of the Grand Manan V from June to mid-October. The government will extend this expanded service to the end of November 2000, yielding an extra 34 crossings during the fall period.

In announcing these measures, the transportation minister said she was responding to issues identified by the Grand Manan Transportation Commission, industry and other users of the ferry system. The minister also released a copy of the Grand Manan Ferry Service Task Force Review final report.