News

US Mayor Bob Duffy's patience is running thin and he wants answers faster than the fastest fast ferry which he is hoping to sell to British company Euroferries Ltd.

Certainly faster than the city's own fast ferry which has been idle for some time awaiting its UK buyers to actually come and buy the thing. Indeed, their own speed has been called into question.

The Spitit of Ontario has been laid up at Shelburne, Nova Scotia, since December 2006, months after the announcement in May 2006 that Euroferries Ltd were to purchase the vessel from Rochester's ferry company for $29.8 million.

Despite papers and emails flying to and fro across the Atlantic, the ferry hasn't done much crossing itself and it's been reported the mayor is livid.

Now the Mayor of Rochester, New York State, wants a face to face and is preparing to dispatch a top official to the UK.

The Rochester Chronicle reports: "It really comes down to one thing: My frustration with how this process has dragged on for months and there has not been a face-to-face negotiation," said Duffy, who has told city Corporation Counsel Thomas Richards to make travel arrangements. "I'm putting an end to this endless stream of e-mails and phone calls."