A mechanical problem with the Boblo Island ferry briefly disrupted service Thursday morning, forcing Amherstburg Mayor Michael Prue to participate in a mayoral debate by phone instead of attending in person. Prue, who lives on Boblo Island, said he arrived at the ferry lineup around 8:30 a.m. and watched as the vessel struggled to maneuver “It was circling. It was going back and forth,” Prue told CTV News. After realizing the delay could prevent him from making the debate, Prue returned to his home on the island and arranged to take part remotely. The ferry was out of service for about an hour because of damage to its rudder, according to Cindy Prince, vice-president of properties and development with AMICO, which operates the service. Prince said the company keeps extra parts on site to allow crews to make repairs as quickly as possible. “We try to fix it immediately,” she said. Prince explained that regular service was suspended while the repair was made, but emergency services continued to have access to and from the island. She said the ferry was back in regular service after about an hour. The incident also raised questions about whether mechanical disruptions are becoming a recurring issue for island residents. Prue said the ferry was out of service for about five hours last week after federal officials identified a problem with the backup vessel’s firefighting pump. He said there have been numerous delays during his 17 years living on the island. “You’ve come to expect it,” Prue said. Prue said he believes a new ferry is needed, noting that both the primary and backup vessels are decades old. He also said his criticism is directed at the equipment and service reliability, not the ferry employees. “I do love the island. I just don’t like the ferry service much,” Prue said. “But I don’t want to say anything bad about the people working on the ferry, because they are wonderful. They do their best.” Island resident Richard Peddie said disruptions aren’t constant, with long periods sometimes passing without a problem. But he said there have been several incidents recently. “You go months without a disruption, but it seems of late, we’ve had a couple and one this morning,” Peddie said. Peddie said communication with residents could also be improved when ferry service is interrupted. He said the aging vessels are another factor. “The ferries are old. They need to be repaired. They need to be approved by Transportation Canada,” Peddie said. AMICO said it has an aggressive maintenance plan for the vessels and acknowledged that mechanical failures can happen. “Running ferries is very complicated,” Prince said. “They’re mechanical pieces of equipment, just like any mechanical thing. They do break down.” Prince said the company also has procedures in place to continue accommodating emergency services when regular ferry service is suspended. She said the captain can turn the vessel around and operate it using the rudder at the opposite end. Not everyone who has used the ferry believes Thursday’s disruption points to an ongoing reliability problem. Hans Jauer, a former Amherstburg resident who used to frequent Boblo Island, said his experience with the service has generally been positive. “Most of the time I think it’s been pretty reliable,” Jauer said. He said passengers sometimes just have to be patient when problems occur. Ken Miller, who travels to the island about once a week, said he would like to see the larger ferry return to service. “We need the big one back because this one doesn’t seem to have enough room sometimes,” Miller said. Prince said Thursday’s repair was completed in about an hour and regular service has resumed. “Any time we inconvenience anybody, it’s too many,” she said.
