Passengers waiting to board the replacement ferry for the sunken Queen of the North had to wait more than 24 hours to board as crews worked feverishly to fix technical problems.

Only one week after the refurbished ship's maiden voyage, the ferry stayed docked in Prince Rupert, B.C. for more than 30 hours this weekend, although it eventually sailed Saturday night.

Sixty-nine passengers were booked on the 1 p.m. ferry departure on the Northern Adventure's Friday run from Prince Rupert to Port Hardy.

A spokesperson at B.C. Ferries confirmed a dry chemical leak from a fire extinguisher was the source of the problem, which set off fire alarms.

Also, the grey water tank -- which collects water from sinks and showers -- overflowed and the water got into the galley.

However, the most daunting problem came when the public address system broke down. Transport Canada demands that ferries have a way of communicating with passengers.

The Northern Adventure, formerly the MV Sonia, was bought from Greece at a cost approximately of $50 million. There were an additional $18 million in refit costs.

The vessel holds more than 600 passengers and 101 vehicles.

"This is really like going from a Volkswagen to a Cadillac in shipping terms," said Kevin Falcon, B.C.'s minister of transportation.

Passengers became disgruntled while they waited, leaving some of them wishing they had made alternate plans.

"It's very, very poor the way they let you know. It's just terrible service, terrible service," Les Andrews, one passenger trying to get to Port Hardy, told CTV British Columbia.

"We've got two trucks sitting here all this time and three drivers sitting around getting paid," Andrews said.

After waiting for hours, some passengers resigned themselves to resting at nearby hotels for the night.

The ill-fated Queen of the North ran aground just over one year ago.

The 125-metre B.C. Ferries' ship went down in the early morning hours of March 22, 2006, about one hour after slamming into Gil Island at full speed -- about 35 kilometres per hour.

The ferry sank more than 400 metres to the bottom of Wright Sound, where it remains to this day.

In total, 99 passengers and crew survived, while Gerald Foisey and Shirley Rosette of 100 Mile House are presumed to have died in the sinking.

Human error has been blamed for the sinking.

With a report from CTV's Janet Dirks