CORNER BROOK, Nfld. (Mar. 8, 2005) — The plan to launch a cargo ferry service link between western Newfoundland and Belledune, N.B., is off — for now.

The proposed cargo ferry — the establishment of which has been discussed for almost five years — is being put on hold at least until an advisory committee examining the future of Marine Atlantic’s own ferry service is complete, the Western Star newspaper reported.

The advisory committee, headed by former Marine Atlantic chairman Sid Hynes, has been asked to review the crown corporation’s operations including fleet, financial needs, quality of service, and long-term funding and pricing plans. The group will try to identify strategies for stabilizing the Port Aux Basques-North Sydney service’s operations, which are required under the Constitution.

After years of negotiations, the Belledune Port Authority secured Rigel Shipping Canada Inc. to operate the new Nfld-N.B. service, and the port of Corner Brook was divested from Transport Canada to the Corner Brook Port Corp.

However, a market reserach study showed that truckers — who will be essential for the new ferry’s success — are not willing to commit to a new service until the Transport Canada report on Marine Atlantic’s future is released.

Brian Ritchie, president of Rigel Shipping Canada, told the newspaper, he can appreciate truckers’ position in wanting to see where Marine Atlantic is heading. he said he’ll monitor the situation and revaluate his company’s position until after the report is released likely around the end of April.

“To sum it all up, one trucking company said to me that after that report comes out, we might get none of the trucking companies’ support or we might get it all,” the Western Star quoted Ritchie as saying.

Meanwhile, stakeholders who have commented in the Marine Atlantic report , support the service, but demanded Ottawa put more money into the service. Ottawa subsidizes Marine Atlantic for roughly $41 million a year.

Many truckers have voiced their frustration with Marine Atlantic’s service over the last few years. Several protests by independent truckers sparked meetings between truckers’ groups and Marine Atlantic to try and clean up some of the issues.

–from the Western Star