A Ro-Pax ferry that had suffered damage leaked approximately 2,000 litres of coolant into the waters of the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island earlier this week, the Canadian Coast Guard has confirmed.
Confederation, a ferry owned by Transport Canada and operated by Northumberland Ferries (NFL), had attempted to sail out of Prince Edward Island's Charlottetown Harbour for St John's in Newfoundland on Monday, January 5.
The ferry had just left the port and was already near the harbour entrance when she suddenly turned around after a piece of ice struck her hull.
Divers inspected the hull the following day and found that the keel cooler system had suffered a leak, resulting in a mixture of glycol and water to spill into the harbour.
The ferry did not suffer hull damage, NFL confirmed to local news outlet CBC.
The coast guard said that the ferry's operator has since carried out the necessary repairs and that the issue has been resolved. The vessel will also need to be inspected by a third-party entity before she can be cleared to resume operational sailings.
Confederation suffered an earlier incident in 2024, when she struck a wharf on Prince Edward Island. The resulting impact punctured a hole in her bow visor, which then required immediate repairs and left the Nova Scotia-Prince Edward Island route without an available ferry for two months.
