WOOD ISLANDS, P.E.I. — One of the car ferries that plies the waters between P.E.I. and Nova Scotia sustained minor damage in an incident on Friday, June 7.
Don Cormier, vice-president of operations and safety management for Northumberland Ferries Ltd., said Monday the MV Confederation had a minor issue when docking in dense fog at the Wood Islands terminal.
“The ship experienced slight damage to a rubber bumper when it contacted a portion of the older docking infrastructure on the west side of the berth,’’ Cormier told The Guardian.
He noted that in industry terms this is not considered a collision.
Cormier said the infrastructure that ships navigate around as they approach the dock are designed to be “contacted by ships".
“Contributing factors to the extent of the damage of the dolphin are at the angle at which the ship made contact and the age and condition of this infrastructure,’’ he said.
A dolphin is a man-made structure that extends above the water and is used to protect structures from possible impact by ships.
The MV Confederation pushed concrete capping on the dolphin and moved it a few feet.
“Ship damage was slight,’’ Cormier said. “The ship’s rubber bumpers did their job and protected the ship. The bumper has already been repaired.’’
Cormier added that it all happened at very slow speed and that there were no injuries.
The MV Confederation is and has remained available for service.
Cormier said one sailing was cancelled so officials could carry out a detailed inspection of the vessel “and confirmed that no further damage occurred to the ship.’’
