Mv-Confederation

The 'Confederation', operating between Wood Islands, P.E.I., and Caribou, N.S., has left Charlottetown after being damaged by ice and leaking coolant into the harbour and docked in Georgetown, P.E.I., for a scheduled stop, waiting for better weather before continuing on to St. John's, N.L., where the ship will undergo winter maintenance. The ferry had attempted to sail out of Charlottetown Harbour for Newfoundland and Labrador on Jan 10, but turned back towards port just outside the entrance to the harbour after a piece of ice caused damage. Divers went down earlier this week to take a look and saw a hole in an essential piece of equipment. Journalist

The 'Confederation', operating between Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia, leaked coolant into waters off Charlottetown after having been damaged by ice as it was departing the wharf on its way to St. John's, N.L., on Jan 5, 2026. The crew noticed the machinery wasn’t properly cooling the ship's engines as it departed for Newfoundland, so the ferry headed back to Charlottetown. The Canadian Coast Guard was notofied on Jan 6 and conducted an assessment. It confirmed a non-recoverable amount of coolant was released into the marine environment. The Northumberland Ferries Ltd. as operator of the 'Confederation' started conducting repairs to mitigate any further risk of marine pollution. A team of divers spent the day in and out of the freezing waters of Charlottetown Harbour examining the underside of the ferry where its keel coolers were located. The owner Transport Canada has been made aware of the mechanical issues and was monitoring the situation.

On Dec 4, the 'Confederation' returned to service in the Northumberland Strait after completion of repairs of the damage, which the ferry had suffered in an allision on Sep 15 at Wood Islands, in Pictou, Nova Scotia, but soon after the ferry broke down again and was not making any trips on Dec 5 either due to a wind warning which has been issued for eastern Prince Edward Island, with gusts of up to 90 km/h. Before, the ship had only completed one round trip between Caribou, Nova Scotia, and Wood Islands, Prince Edward Island, before experiencing another technical problem with the synchronization of the engines. The issue led to the cancellation of all other sailings scheduled for the day, while the operator Northumberland Ferries was working to resolve the issue and get the ship back to service.