The Government of Ontario and Damen Shipyards Group have signed a contract for the design, build and delivery for two “road” ferries to operate in the Canadian waters of the Great Lakes. The ferries will be based in Kingston and Loyalist Township, Ontario.
The two ferries will consist of a 68-metre Damen Road Ferry 6819 and a 98-metre Damen Road Ferry 9819.
Both ferries will be hybrid and will have the ability to be equipped with batteries when required.
Damen Road Ferry 9819 will serve Wolfe Island and Damen Road Ferry 6819 Amherst Island.
According to Damen, the new ferries will provide faster crossing for about one million passengers and 500,000 vehicles which travel annually between Wolfe Island and Kingston, and the 270,000 passengers and 130,000 vehicles which travel to and from Amherst Island each year.
Leo Postma, Damen Sales Manager, commented: “We are very happy and very proud to have this opportunity to further expand Ontario’s fleet of ferries. A rigorous tender process is always a test of how competitive we are and we are very pleased with the result. This new contract is a continuation of successful sales into Canada by Damen and the two new ships will take the number of Damen ferries operating in the country up to eight, along with other Damen workboats.”
The ferries will be delivered at the end of 2019 for Amherst Island and at the end of 2020 for Wolfe Island.
