NFL Ferry Holiday Island Fire

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Photo Greg Britton via FB Nova Scotia fire /Emergency/Info

The Northumberland ferry Holiday Island is on fire at Wood Island PEI. The ferry crosses between NS and PEI, and was bound for PEI when the fire broke out.

The Holiday Island is a double ended (double pilot house) passenger and vehicle ferry
built in 1971 at Port Weller Dry Dock, St. Catherines, Ontario for Canadian
National Railways. The vessel was designed to service the Cape Tormentine, NB to
Borden, PEI crossing prior to construction of the confederation bridge.

The 51 years old vessel is now owned by Transport Canada and operated by
Bay Ferries Ltd and services the Caribou, Nova Scotia to Wood Island, PEI crossing.
The vessel operates eight months of the year from May to December.

A replacement was included in the 2019 federal budget.

MarineTraffic seem to show the vessel was on the NS – PEI leg of the trip, and is stopped outside the harbour. Reports from facebook are that lifeboats are being deployed. given the ship is outside the harbour, it suggests the fire is in a machinery space, as opposed to a car – if it was a car, docking the ship and gaining access to shore based resources would be smart.

Given the ferries location, I’m going to guess they ran it aground. Given the drive arrangement, that means the hull is probably compromised.

Photos posted to facebook shows Marine Evacuation System deployed. This system was installed in 2020, and replaced open air lifeboats. once in the raft passengers were taken ashore by local fishing vessels. The MES is basically a airplane style evacuation slide with a large detachable raft at the end. the raft can then be moved away from the vessel with the ships FRC.

Photo Jonathan Jessome via FB Nova Scotia fire /Emergency/Info

Yesterday the Holiday Island suffered a technical issue that delayed sailings.

Temperatures today are 28, with 74% humidity. Humidex of 38. Fun day to fight a fire.

Update via the CBC: The FIRE IS OUT and there are no injuries according to Don Cormier at Northumberland Ferries.

This is now a salvage operation.

UPDATE 07/22 1332: JRCC Halifax has issued a series of tweets. “At 11:17 am, JRCC Halifax received a distress call indicating that the Northumberland Ferry “Holiday Island” suffered a fire in their engine room and subsequently ran aground. Search and Rescue aircraft from 14 Wing Greenwood, and Canadian Coast Guard Vessels are on scene and have safely disembarked 182 passengers. 18 Crew and 7 local firefighters remain on board to fight the fire. Local fire, police & paramedics are on scene. As all passengers have been taken ashore, local authorities and the ferry operators are responsible for any updates. SAR assets will remain in place to assist if required.”

A CCGS Fast Rescue Craft and an RCAF C130 were noted to be in the area.

UPDATE 07/22 1435: NFL Statement https://www.ferries.ca/ns-pei-ferry/northumberland-ferries-limited-reports-holiday-island-incident/. also confirmed on twitter that all people and pets are safe.

UPDATE 07/22 1605 : A Passenger has posted a gallery of photos

UPDATE 07/22 1945 : It looks like the Holiday island has ungrounded itself. There were likely tugs in assistance, just not visible on AIS. This is good, as it suggests my damage assessment from the grounding was overly pessimistic.

The other ferry on the run, Confederation has also made it to Wood Islands.

The Coast Guard has tweeted about this.

UPDATE 07/22 21:40: just saw a reddit post suggesting the boat was on fire again as of 19:00. zooming in it looks like a more smoke then running the engine and another comment suggesting the vessel was still on fire at 18:00, and a helicopter was sling loading equipment to the ship.

CBC reporter noted at 17:45 the NFL clarified that the fire was contained, but not out.

UPDATE 07/23 00:22: Tug Svitzer Bedford looks to have sailed from Point Tupper around 10pm.

UPDATE 07/23 0140: someone near the ship tells me that the ship is still grounded, and firefighters have been withdrawn due to safety concerns. Svitzer Bedford is almost on scene, and is equipped with fire monitors, so they may be transitioning to an external attack.

UPDATE 07/23 1300:

Photo posted at CBC from this AM.

the ferry was moved pulled by a tug to deeper water last night on the high tide to enable the confederation to operate. NFL has cancelled service for Sunday, and is not taking further reservations. In a statement, they confirmed that the ferry is still on fire, and that firefighters were removed from the ship at 9:30 last night. They also confirmed that an environmental response team is standing by. the release also included the line “It is uncertain at this time if we will be able to recover vehicles and return them to their owners. ” – which suggests they are planning for the loss of the vessel.

CCGS photo tweeted by TC.

UPDATE 07/23 1400: My Guess is the ship may have used a CO2 extinguishing system to flood the engine room and put out the fire. They work great, but you need to keep the space closed and full of CO2 untill things can cool down, or you can have a rekindle.

The txt below was sent to passengers this morning.

UPDATE 07/23 1715: Latest from NFL.

The fire is still burning. “The tug Svitzer Bedford, which has some firefighting capability, has been able to apply some boundary cooling to the sides of the ship and car decks. The environmental response organization, ECRC, has been able to deploy a boom around the ship as a precautionary measure.”

“the current plan under consideration would be to tow the ship into Wood Islands harbour during high tide with two tugs and to secure the ship in berth. Once secured in berth, firefighting crews would attempt to finally extinguish the fire.” This is a sound and reasonable plan. Putting out the fire will be much easier if the ship is at the dock, and crews have easy access with hoses and equipment. The Next high tide is at 8:01 tonight, followed by 7:01 tomorrow morning.

Holiday Island was carrying 83 vehicles on the two car decks of the ship. NFL noted a lack of rental cars and hotel rooms complicating passenger accommodation.

UPDATE 07/23 20:50:

The coast guard released some imagery of boundary cooling being applied – the Holiday Island also has a noticeable list. The ship was not moved to the pier on this evenings high tide.

CCGS M.Pearley, a fisheries sciance vessel, and CCGS Cap Spray, a 45’MLB are on scene

UPDATE 07/24 1000: the CCGS Molly Kool is now on scene. Statement from NFL. the fire looks to be out, and the ship was moved alongside on the high tide this morning.

UPDATE 1545: Vehicles are now rolling off the ship. some required tow assistance.

Additional images via the CCGS on twitter.

UPDATE 07/25 1440:
Ferry service remains suspended. NFL hopes to resume service with MV Confederation on Wednesday, the 27th. Confederation will do 4 round trips/day Departing Wood Islands: 07:00,  10:00,  13:30, 17:00 and Departing Caribou: 08:30, 11:45, 15:15, 18:30”

Novus at Work.

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A few weeks ago when i was in Quebec, i found Novus at work off Point-aux-Pare.

Halifax Based Leeway Marine has owns the vessel, which was acquired to service a contract with the Coast Guard to replace the CCGS Fredrick G. Creed, which was removed from service and disposed of.

Novus, was delivered to Halifax on April 15 2021 by the General Cargo Ship Suomigracht. Novus was offloaded at Pier 9, and moved to COVE in Dartmouth. 

Novus can carry 12 passengers plus three crew, and can accommodate 2 shipping containers on deck, making it a perfect research vessel. Novus is 85′ long and 42′ wide, and can cruise at 15 knots. The vessel is quite distinctive, as it features a small waterplane area twin hull design, better known as SWATH. 

the ship spent this past winter undergoing a refit at AF Theriaut, and performs surveys of the river during the summer months.

SWATH was developed by a Nova Scotian Fredrick G. Creed in 1938. The design of the twin hull minimizes the area of hull at the water’s surface, reducing the effects of waves on the vessel, giving a very stable platform. Creed received a patent for the design in 1946. The first SWATH vessel was built in 1968.  

Drowning Doesn’t look like Drowning.

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ed note: this article was written in 2010 by Mario Vittone, USCG Rescue Swimmer #368 it has been released into the public domain, and has been reprinted into numerous publications. I tweet it regularly, because its important.

The new captain jumped from the deck, fully dressed, and sprinted through the water. A former lifeguard, he kept his eyes on his victim as he headed straight for the couple swimming between their anchored sportfisher and the beach. “I think he thinks you’re drowning,” the husband said to his wife. They had been splashing each other and she had screamed but now they were just standing, neck-deep on the sand bar. “We’re fine, what is he doing?” she asked, a little annoyed. “We’re fine!” the husband yelled, waving him off, but his captain kept swimming hard. ”Move!” he barked as he sprinted between the stunned owners. Directly behind them, not ten feet away, their nine-year-old daughter was drowning. Safely above the surface in the arms of the captain, she burst into tears, “Daddy!”

Think this story doesn’t happen? Check out this rescue in Hawaii. A girl is in trouble surrounded by people, and no one notices shes in trouble.

How did this captain know – from fifty feet away – what the father couldn’t recognize from just ten? Drowning is not the violent, splashing, call for help that most people expect. The captain was trained to recognize drowning by experts and years of experience. The father, on the other hand, had learned what drowning looks like by watching television. If you spend time on or near the water (hint: that’s all of us) then you should make sure that you and your crew know what to look for whenever people enter the water. Until she cried a tearful, “Daddy,” she hadn’t made a sound. As a former Coast Guard rescue swimmer, I wasn’t surprised at all by this story. Drowning is almost always a deceptively quiet event. The waving, splashing, and yelling that dramatic conditioning (television) prepares us to look for, is rarely seen in real life.

The Instinctive Drowning Response – so named by Francesco A. Pia, Ph.D., is what people do to avoid actual or perceived suffocation in the water. And it does not look like most people expect. There is very little splashing, no waving, and no yelling or calls for help of any kind. To get an idea of just how quiet and undramatic from the surface drowning can be, consider this: It is the number two cause of accidental death in children, age 15 and under (just behind vehicle accidents) – of the approximately 750 children who will drown next year, about 375 of them will do so within 25 yards of a parent or other adult. In ten percent of those drownings, the adult will actually watch them do it, having no idea it is happening. Drowning does not look like drowning – Dr. Pia, in an article in the Coast Guard’s On Scene Magazine: Fall 2006 (page 14), described the instinctive drowning response like this:

  1. Except in rare circumstances, drowning people are physiologically unable to call out for help. The respiratory system was designed for breathing. Speech is the secondary or overlaid function. Breathing must be fulfilled, before speech occurs.
  2. Drowning people’s mouths alternately sink below and reappear above the surface of the water. The mouths of drowning people are not above the surface of the water long enough for them to exhale, inhale, and call out for help. When the drowning people’s mouths are above the surface, they exhale and inhale quickly as their mouths start to sink below the surface of the water.
  3. Drowning people cannot wave for help. Nature instinctively forces them to extend their arms laterally and press down on the water’s surface. Pressing down on the surface of the water, permits drowning people to leverage their bodies so they can lift their mouths out of the water to breathe.
  4. Throughout the Instinctive Drowning Response, drowning people cannot voluntarily control their arm movements. Physiologically, drowning people who are struggling on the surface of the water cannot stop drowning and perform voluntary movements such as waving for help, moving toward a rescuer, or reaching out for a piece of rescue equipment.
  5. From beginning to end of the Instinctive Drowning Response people’s bodies remain upright in the water, with no evidence of a supporting kick. Unless rescued by a trained lifeguard, these drowning people can only struggle on the surface of the water from 20 to 60 seconds before submersion occurs.

This doesn’t mean that a person that is yelling for help and thrashing isn’t in real trouble – they are experiencing aquatic distress. Not always present before the instinctive drowning response, aquatic distress doesn’t last long – but unlike true drowning, these victims can still assist in their own rescue. They can grab lifelines, throw rings, etc.

Look for these other signs of drowning when persons are in the water:

  • Head low in the water, mouth at water level
  • Head tilted back with mouth open
  • Eyes glassy and empty, unable to focus
  • Eyes closed
  • Hair over forehead or eyes
  • Not using legs – Vertical
  • Hyperventilating or gasping
  • Trying to swim in a particular direction but not making headway
  • Trying to roll over on the back
  • Appear to be climbing an invisible ladder.

So if a crew member falls overboard and everything looks OK – don’t be too sure. Sometimes the most common indication that someone is drowning is that they don’t look like they’re drowning. They may just look like they are treading water and looking up at the deck. One way to be sure? Ask them, “Are you alright?” If they can answer at all – they probably are. If they return a blank stare, you may have less than 30 seconds to get to them. And parents – children playing in the water make noise. When they get quiet, you get to them and find out why.

Pool Drains can be Dangerous.
Do you have a backyard pool or spa? Before you or your family jumps into the pool this summer, check the drain. The very quick and valuable lesson on what to look for (and why) is brought to you by the ZAC Foundation. To learn more about how to help keep your family, friends and community safe, visit www.thezacfoundation.com and www.abbeyshope.org.

Hydra Mariner being removed.

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The Coast guard is in the Process of removing the Hydra Mariner from Navy Island in the bedford basin. The CG announced last week that the vessel would be cut up in place, and disposed of.

The costs for the cleanup will be covered by the Ship Source Oil Pollution Fund, which will then go after the vessels owner to recover the cleanup costs. The Hydra Mariner is registered with the TC Registry of shipping as a pleasure craft.

The vessel grounded in January 2021, in high winds. It had been moored in the cove for some time.

IT Infinity – New for IT Telecom

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IT Telecom looks to have acquired another Offshore vessel for conversion to do cable work. The IT Infinity was previously Standard Princess, and worked out of Aberdeen Scotland. At the end of may, the ship sailed for Cape Canaveral in Florida, departing for Halifax on the 13th.

the ship was built by Vard in 2008. The large crane looks to be a recent addition, as pictures on MarineTraffic.com don’t show the crane while in Scotland.

Fundy Monarch

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The third fishing vessel, Fundy Monarch, on the water front earlier this week. The vessels fish at night, and offload their catch at Pier 9. The fish are pumped into tank trucks, to be driven to the processors.

In the photo above, you can see the unloading rig in front of the fishing boat, and an empty trailer waiting to receive catch.

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