Ferry up for Boston project Scotia Prince eyed for lease

YARMOUTH, Nova Scotia – A group of American investors hoping to set up a ferry service between Shelburne, Nova Scotia, and Boston is negotiating a lease for the Scotia Prince.

The proposal calls for the ferry to sail early evenings from Boston on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays beginning this summer. It would make the 12- to 14-hour trip from Shelburne on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

The 32-year-old Scotia Prince and its predecessor, the Prince of Fundy, provided ferry service from Portland, Maine, to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, for 35 years before canceling its season last month in a dispute with the city of Portland.

Gene Hartigan, one of the investors with Shores Atlantic LLC of Boston, said an announcement on the Boston-to-Shelburne route could be made in a matter of days.

“It’s less about whether it will become a reality but more about when it will begin,” he said. “I would say the window right now would be between July 1 and August 1. Obviously it would be an abbreviated season.”

Lydia Deinstadt, manager of the Shelburne Visitor Centre, said it would be the economic boom that the town needs.

The ferry can accommodate up to 1,000 passengers and 185 vehicles.

Earlier this year the owners of the Scotia Prince canceled service between Portland and Yarmouth and put the ferry up for sale.

Scotia Prince Cruises has filed a $20 million lawsuit against the city of Portland for its alleged failure to address toxic mold at the city-owned International Marine Terminal.

City officials claim to have made $1.2 million worth of improvements to the ferry terminal and were looking for another tenant, possibly The Cat, the high-speed ferry that runs now between Bar Harbor, Maine, and Nova Scotia.