Ontario government awards contract for two road ferries

The government of Ontario has signed a contract for the design, build and delivery of two road ferries to operate in Canada’s Great Lakes.

To be built by Damen Shipyards Group, the ferries will be 68 metres and 98 metres long.

Customised for local infrastructure, both will be hybrid-ready and will be based at Kingston and Loyalist Township, Ontario, at the north-eastern end of Lake Ontario. The larger will serve Wolfe Island, while the smaller will serve Amherst Island.

The ferries are expected to make crossings faster for the one million passengers and 500,000 vehicles that travel annually between Wolfe Island and Kingston, and the 270,000 passengers and 130,000 vehicles that travel to and from Amherst Island each year.

The ferries are scheduled for delivery at the end of 2019 (Amherst) and at the end of 2020 (Wolfe).