Thanks for the memories: MV Holiday Island days away from being fully scrapped

The MV Holiday Island is almost down to its final pieces after being decommissioned last year due to a fire onboard during a run from Nova Scotia to P.E.I. 

After more than 50 years on the waves, the ferry made its final stop in Sheet Harbour, N.S., where R.J. MacIsaac Construction is handling the scrapping and disposal of its parts.

Darren Webster is the director of operations for the marine construction company. He says they've scrapped many vessels before, for both government and private owners, but taking apart the Holiday Island feels a little different. 

We will always treat these vessels with respect.— Darren Webster

This ship racked up as many memories as it did nautical miles.

"It's a vessel that most Atlantic Canadians and a lot of Canadians in general have a memory of," Webster said.

"For myself, personally, it's one of those ones that I have memories of — vacations and crossing to Prince Edward Island as a young Nova Scotian with my family and then, certainly, as an adult with my own wife and kids. A lot of trips to P.E.I. on this vessel."

'There are emotional attachments'

The ferry owned by the federal government and operated by Northumberland Ferries was due to be replaced in 2027, so it was near the end of its life cycle by the time of the fire. 

Webster said it's a shame that the vessel didn't get a final voyage, and that Islanders didn't get to see it off on their own terms.

Regardless, he said the Holiday Island is getting the care and respect it deserves in its final hours.

"We will always treat these vessels with respect, because of that connection of the sailors that have lived so much of their life on these vessels," Webster said. "It's become a huge part of who they are.

"There are emotional attachments … Prince Edward Island is a special place and part of getting there, that journey of going on the ferry, it adds to that specialness and the Holiday Island is part of that."

Some items that have been salvaged from the ferry will find homes in museums around the Island.

More than 90 per cent of the material forming the vessel will be recycled, something Webster said RJMI is proud of. As of mid-July, all that remains of the Holiday Island is the hull, which will be pulled onto land later this week or early next.

From there, it will take roughly two to three weeks to recycle the rest of it before it's finally done, Webster said.