NEW FAST FERRY IS A PERFECT FIT

The Spirit of Ontario

A high-speed ferry based at Rochester in the United States which was sold yesterday (3 May) to a British company for $29.8 million, is being heralded as a perfect fit for its future home on the English Channel by Alain Rousseau, port development manager for the port of Boulogne-sur-Mer.

The buyer, Euroferries Ltd., will operate the Spirit of Ontario between Dover and the French port.

They are pushing to start up this month and holding interviews for crew members in Dover, Calais and Boulogne.

A bid by Navmed Ltd, who also planned to operate a fast ferry across the channel was unsuccessful.

When operating in the Great Lakes between Rochester NY and Toronto in Canada, The Spirit of Ontario had struggled through abbreviated seasons in 2004 and 2005, hindered by late start-ups, minimal marketing and low passenger numbers. The first year it was a private operation, run by Canadian American Transportation Systems, and the second as a city operation, after Rochester acquired the ship at auction.