MV Caribou

Last updated

North Sydney Nova Scotia Harbour (cropped).jpg
Caribou at North Sydney
History
Name
  • Caribou (1986–2011)
  • Caribo (2011)
Owner Government of Canada
Operator Marine Atlantic
Port of registry St. John's, Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada
Route North Sydney, Nova Scotia - Channel-Port aux Basques, Newfoundland & Labrador
Ordered1984
Builder Davie Shipbuilding
Laid down1984
Launched1985
Completed1986
In service1986–2010
Identification IMO number:  8301876
FateBroken up in 2011 [1]
General characteristics (as built)
Class and typeGulfspan class icebreaking ropax ferry
Tonnage
Length172.76 m (567 ft)
Beam24.99 m (82 ft)
Draught12.19 m (40 ft 0 in)
Rampsshore-based bi-level ramps
Ice class1A Super
Installed power
  • 4 × MaK 8-cylinder diesels
  • combined 20,600 kW
Propulsion
  • 2 propellers
  • 2 bow thrusters
  • 2 stern thrusters
Speed
  • 22 knots (41 km/h; 25 mph) (maximum)
  • 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) (service)
Capacity
  • 1,200 passengers
  • 370 cars, 77 trucks
  • 1,800 m (5,906 ft) lane metres
Crew108 (summer), 68 (winter)

MV Caribou was a Marine Atlantic passenger/vehicle ferry which operated between the islands of Newfoundland and Cape Breton in eastern Canada.

Contents

Caribou was named in memory of her predecessor the SS Caribou which was sunk off Port aux Basques by a German U-boat on October 14, 1942 with the loss of 137 passengers and crew.

Entering service in 1986, she was built by Versatile Davie in Lauzon, Quebec, and is specifically designed to traverse the 178 km (96 nmi) route across the Cabot Strait between North Sydney, Nova Scotia and Channel-Port aux Basques, Newfoundland and Labrador.

MV Caribou and MV Joseph and Clara Smallwood laid up at Sydport in Point Edward, Sydney Harbour in March 2011. MV caribou MV Joseph and Clara Smallwood.JPG
MV Caribou and MV Joseph and Clara Smallwood laid up at Sydport in Point Edward, Sydney Harbour in March 2011.

A roll-on, roll-off design with a bow visor, Caribou had 2 vehicle decks and 5 decks above, the main passenger deck being Deck 5. She measured 179 metres in overall length and 25 metres in breadth, weighing 27,212 tons. Her capacity included 1,200 passengers and 370 automobiles or 77 tractor trailers. She had up to 106 crewmembers.

Caribou's design had been commissioned by CN Marine in the early 1980s and was the culmination of years of research into effective icebreaking ship designs. The resulting hull design which Caribou and Joseph and Clara Smallwood were built to is called "Gulfspan", named in part after the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The "Gulfspan" hull is unique among Canadian icebreakers in that the ship slices through sea ice, rather than using its weight to ride up onto and crush the ice underneath. This design permits the sister ships to maintain close to regular operating speed.[ citation needed ]

At the time that Caribou entered service in 1986, CN Marine underwent a restructuring whereby the company was separated from its parent CN Rail and renamed Marine Atlantic. At the same time, CN was beginning the process of abandoning all railway service on the island of Newfoundland, which had been operating as Terra Transport. Several ferry vessels were retired and/or sold at the time that Caribou entered service and these corporate restructuring changes were taking place.

Caribou regularly made the Cabot Strait crossing from North Sydney to Channel-Port aux Basques in approximately 5 hours, 30 minutes, however she had been known to break the 5 hour mark in optimum conditions but frequently comes closer to 6 hours as dictated by established schedules.

The ship was retired by Marine Atlantic on November 26, 2010 after completing her last run from Port aux Basques to North Sydney. She was laid up in Sydney Harbour until August 31, 2011.

Sale

On August 11, 2011 it was announced that Caribou had been sold to Comrie Ltd. of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. [2] She was renamed MV Caribo by her new owners and was scrapped at Alang, India alongside her younger sister-ship Joseph and Clara Smallwood. [1] [3] [4] [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cabot Strait</span> Body of water

Cabot Strait is a strait in eastern Canada approximately 110 kilometres wide between Cape Ray, Newfoundland and Cape North, Cape Breton Island. It is the widest of the three outlets for the Gulf of Saint Lawrence into the Atlantic Ocean, the others being the Strait of Belle Isle and Strait of Canso. It is named for the Genoese explorer Giovanni Caboto.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marine Atlantic</span> Independent Canadian federal Crown corporation operating ferries

Marine Atlantic Inc. is an independent Canadian federal Crown corporation which is mandated to operate ferry services between the provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Channel-Port aux Basques</span> Town in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

Channel-Port aux Basques is a town at the extreme southwestern tip of Newfoundland fronting on the western end of the Cabot Strait. A Marine Atlantic ferry terminal is located in the town which is the primary entry point onto the island of Newfoundland and the western terminus of the Newfoundland and Labrador Route 1 in the province. The town was incorporated in 1945 and its population in the 2021 census was 3,547.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CN Marine</span> Defunct Canadian ferry company

CN Marine was a Canadian ferry company headquartered in Moncton, New Brunswick.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Newfoundland Railway</span> Defunct narrow-gauge railway

The Newfoundland Railway operated on the island of Newfoundland from 1898 to 1988. With a total track length of 906 miles (1,458 km), it was the longest 3 ft 6 in narrow-gauge railway system in North America.

Terra Transport (TT) was the name for the Newfoundland Transportation Division, a wholly owned subsidiary of Canadian National Railway (CN), created in 1979 as a means to organize the company's operations on Newfoundland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Sydney, Nova Scotia</span> Place in Nova Scotia, Canada

North Sydney is a former town and current community in Nova Scotia's Cape Breton Regional Municipality.

MV <i>William Carson</i> Former CN Marine ferry

M/V William Carson was a CN Marine passenger/vehicle icebreaker ferry named in honour of Newfoundland colonial politician William Carson.

MV <i>Joseph and Clara Smallwood</i> Former Marine Atlantic ferry

MV Joseph and Clara Smallwood was a Marine Atlantic passenger/vehicle ferry which operated between Newfoundland and Cape Breton Island in eastern Canada. She is named after former Newfoundland premier Joseph R. Smallwood and his wife Clara.

MV <i>John Hamilton Gray</i> Former Marine Atlantic ferry

MV John Hamilton Gray was an icebreaking railway, vehicle, and passenger ferry which operated across the Abegweit Passage of Northumberland Strait, connecting Port Borden to Cape Tormentine between 1968–1997.

SS <i>Caribou</i>

SS Caribou was a Newfoundland Railway passenger ferry that ran between Port aux Basques, in the Dominion of Newfoundland, and North Sydney, Nova Scotia between 1928 and 1942. During the Battle of the St. Lawrence the ferry participated in thrice-weekly convoys between Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. A German submarine attacked the convoy on 14 October 1942 and Caribou was sunk. She had women and children on board, and many of them were among the 137 who died. Her sinking, and large death toll, made it clear that the war had really arrived on Canada's and Newfoundland's home front. Her sinking is cited by many historians as the most significant sinking in Canadian-controlled waters during the Second World War.

German submarine U-69 was the first Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II. This meant that compared to previous U-boats, she could travel further afield for longer, with a payload of eleven torpedoes, an 8.8 cm (3.5 in) deck gun for smaller vessels and a flak gun for use against aircraft. U-69 was very successful, sinking over 72,000 gross register tons (GRT) of Allied shipping in a career lasting two years, making her one of the longest surviving, continuously serving, U-boats. Her most notable attack was on the civilian ferry SS Caribou, which sank off the coast of Newfoundland in October 1942, killing 137 men, women and children. She was rammed and sunk by HMS Fame on 17 February 1943.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MV Vacationland</span> Ferry

The MV Vacationland is a Canadian RORO ferry that operated across the Northumberland Strait between the ports of Cape Tormentine, New Brunswick and Port Borden, Prince Edward Island.

MV <i>Holiday Island</i> Ferry

MV Holiday Island is a Canadian RORO ferry that operates across the Northumberland Strait between the ports of Wood Islands, Prince Edward Island and Caribou, Nova Scotia. The vessel is owned by the Government of Canada and is managed and operated by Northumberland Ferries Limited.

MV <i>Leif Ericson</i> Marine Atlantic ferry

The MV Leif Ericson is a commercial passenger/vehicle ferry in service with the Canadian operator Marine Atlantic. She is currently the oldest vessel in the Marine Atlantic fleet. She was built along with two sister ships by Fosen Mekaniske Verksteder, Norway in the early 1990s. These two are Oslofjord and Patria Seaways.

MV <i>Atlantic Vision</i> Marine Atlantic ferry

MV Atlantic Vision is a fast ro-pax ferry owned by the Estonian ferry company Tallink, under charter to Canadian operator Marine Atlantic. In February 2015, Marine Atlantic announced that the lease on the vessel had been renewed until November 2017 for a cost of Can$40 million. It was subsequently extended again, and the vessel is under Marine Atlantic control through November 2019. As of 2016 Atlantic Vision operates on Marine Atlantic's services between North Sydney, Nova Scotia, and the Newfoundland ports of Channel-Port aux Basques and Argentia, Placentia.

MV <i>Abegweit</i> (1982) Former Marine Atlantic ferry

MV Abegweit were icebreaking railway, vehicle, and passenger ferries which operated across the Abegweit Passage of Northumberland Strait, connecting Borden-Carleton, Prince Edward Island to Cape Tormentine, New Brunswick. There were two vessels named Abegweit that serviced this route between 1947 and 1997.

MV <i>Blue Puttees</i> Marine Atlantic ferry

MV Blue Puttees is a Ro-Pax passenger/vehicle ferry operated by Marine Atlantic between the islands of Newfoundland and Cape Breton in eastern Canada. She is named after the nickname of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment.

MV Highlanders is a Ro-Pax passenger/vehicle ferry operated by the Canadian Crown corporation Marine Atlantic. She operates between the islands of Newfoundland and Cape Breton in eastern Canada and is named after several Nova Scotian infantry regiments which fought in the first and second world wars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MV Patrick Morris</span>

The MV Patrick Morris was a Canadian National Railway (CN) train ferry that sank on her run from North Sydney, Nova Scotia to Port aux Basques, Newfoundland during a storm in the early morning hours of 20 April 1970 while responding to a mayday call from the Newfoundland-based herring seiner FV Enterprise. The ship's Captain Roland Penney was given permission to leave North Sydney ahead of schedule to assist the wood-hulled fishing vessel in distress. No passengers were aboard the Patrick Morris when she set sail shortly before midnight for the rescue mission on 19 April.

References

  1. 1 2 "Caribou (8301876)" . Equasis. French Ministry for Transport . Retrieved October 26, 2011.
  2. "Marine Atlantic sells Caribou, Smallwood". Cape Breton Post , August 11, 2011. Retrieved October 17, 2011.
  3. Ferries' fate questioned. The Gulf News, October 11, 2011.
  4. "Achievements". Archived from the original on August 6, 2011. Retrieved October 31, 2011.
  5. http://www.gulfnews.ca/News/2011-10-31/article-2791853/Former-ferries-beached-at-Alang%2C-India/1