Nova Star gets $5M from province to recoup losses

HALIFAX – The Nova Scotia government is spending another $5 million to support the restored ferry service between Yarmouth and Portland, Maine.

Economic Development Minister Michel Samson said the additional funding for Nova Star Cruises is intended to help cover outstanding costs from its sailing season.

The service has encountered problems in its inaugural season, which ended Tuesday, three weeks earlier than planned due to a lack of passengers.

“We felt that we had to give this a go. That all of the work that had been done here by so many different individuals, that this was worth at least trying and meeting our commitment to restore that ferry service,” Samson said at the funding announcement Tuesday.

In July, the Liberals said the entire $21 million that was committed over seven years for the ferry had been spent by the operator, two months into the season.

Samson says that funding agreement was unrealistic.

The previous NDP government promised last year to revive the service after killing it early in its mandate in 2009 by eliminating an annual subsidy.

That subsidy totalled $15.7 million over the last four years that the ferry service was in operation, which began in 1997.

Under a new interim agreement announced today, an adviser from KPMG with ferry experience will audit costs, look for savings and advise on a plan for future years.

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