Marine Atlantic ferry delays hoped to ease as winds break up ice
Some of ice floes in Cabot Strait 10 kilometres long, says acting superintendent of ice operations
There could be some relief this week for people enduring slow ferry crossings between North Sydney, N.S., and Newfoundland.
Marine Atlantic says its crossings are taking two to three hours longer because of the heavy ice in the Cabot Strait.
Rebecca Acton-Bond, acting superintendent of ice operations in the region, says southeasterly winds on Wednesday, followed by westerlies, should help to flush away some of the ice.
"It's going to continue to flush out of the Cabot [Strait]. Now with the westerly component, it may drift over towards Port aux Basques more, but yes it's going to continue to flush out of the Cabot. So once that ice moves out of the Gulf through the Cabot, then it's not going to be so much of a problem," she said.
Conditions across Newfoundland's Strait of Belle Isle have caused days-long delays for the provincial ferry Apollo.
Bond says some of the ice floes in the Cabot Strait are 10 kilometres long.
"There's more ice than there was last year and last year was the most ice we've seen in 30 years. Specifically in the Cabot Strait. That large tongue that we're seeing of the ice conditions there is very significant and it's more than we've seen in recent years, that's for sure," she said.
With files from The Canadian Press