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Ferry no longer coming to Toronto!
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| itikia |
Ferry stranded by debt
DEBRA BLACK
STAFF REPORTER
The Rochester-Toronto ferry will no longer be crossing the waters of Lake Ontario — at least not for a while.
The high-speed service, which operated twice daily between the two cities, is shutting down its operations today without any plans in place for resuming service, leaving passengers and city officials on both sides of the border wondering what went wrong.
Canadian American Transportation Systems announced late yesterday it would suspend operations of the ferry, which began in June, blaming start-up delays, unexpected custom costs, high fuel costs and the failure to get a licence from U.S. officials to carry trucks.
The company said it is trying to restructure its debt and hoped to resume operations as soon as possible.
In 80 days of service, more than 140,000 passengers travelled on the Breeze.
For many passengers who got off the ferry from Rochester last night, the news came as a complete surprise.
"They didn't tell me anything about this on the way over and I don't know what I'm going to do," said one Rochester woman, who would only identify herself as Antonina. She was here to visit friends for a week and didn't know how she was going to get home.
But she was one of the lucky passengers who managed to get a refund for the return portion of her ticket. Others weren't as fortunate, leaving the ferry before they had been told of the cancellation.
For those heading to Rochester, the news was equally dismaying.
"I'm totally disappointed," said Edie Bergl, a Toronto teacher and artist who was dropping off a friend at the ferry.
"I've been looking forward to this service since I heard about it years ago. Even if I didn't have a friend over there, I'd go because we've driven many times. But this would be much nicer. I'm shocked."
"Very sad," said Gerardo Cahlhidalgo of Washington, D.C., as he was about to board the ferry. . "It's an excellent trip. The treatment is first-class."
First-class or not, the company said it had accumulated more than $2.1 million in debt during a seven-week delay in the delivery of the ship and needed engine modifications.
"During the month of August, we were able to reduce our outstanding debt to $1.7 million, but the continued delays in our ability to carry trucks, which reduces revenue by up to $18,000 per day, hard costs of $6,000 per day in pilotage fees, $2,500 per day in Canadian customs fees, and higher fuel costs are draining the company on a daily basis," said Cornel Martin, president of Canadian American Transportation Systems, the company that ran the high-speed service between the two cities.
The company is trying to restructure its debt, but Martin said in a news release lenders have said they would not make money available until some of the issues plaguing the ferry are resolved.
The company is working to get the situation resolved as soon as possible, he said.
"In spite of all our efforts to reduce costs and continue operations, the lenders have decided not to allow us to access those funds until the aforementioned items are addressed," he said.
Martin also blamed the lack of a firm date for the completion of a proper terminal facility in Toronto.
The Toronto Port Authority was spending $10.5 million to redevelop the planned site. It was not expected to open until January.
But that wasn't good enough for Martin, who in his company's news release said he worried about where passengers were going to land in the damp autumn and cold winter in Toronto.
Lisa Raitt, president and CEO of the Toronto Port Authority, said she was surprised by yesterday's announcement, saying ridership was good and the readiness of Toronto's terminal wasn't a real concern.
So where does this leave the future of the ferry terminal? "Everything is up in the air now. ... We have to hear from the principals before we make a decision," Raitt said.
Rochester Mayor Bill Johnson, who was deeply upset with the suspension in service, said he'd been on the phone with the ferry company "all afternoon trying to persuade them that the suspension was premature."
Rochester has invested a lot in the project, spending close to $20 million on port improvements and its terminal.
"My point was no one would begrudge them from cutting down on service, going to once a day or three or four times a week," Johnson said.
"But to just abruptly and without prior warning shut it down, it causes a lot of harm to their reputation. I cannot begin to disguise my annoyance with the announcement they made."
Johnson had few kind words for the Toronto Port Authority and what he called its "unconscionable" behaviour in not building adequate terminal facilities on time.
Johnson said he would lobby New York Senators Charles Schumer and Hillary Rodham Clinton to push for the necessary licences so the Breeze can begin to carry trucks.
with files by Henry Stancu |
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| Pettiscool |
phew
thought you were talkin bout the other ferry. |
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| Creamfields |
| LMFAO!!! me too |
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| MarkT |
| that makes three, lol...although I read the ferry (not Ferry) story already today so I figured it out pretty quick :stongue: |
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| loconet |
| That makes four .. very funny itikia :rolleyes: :mad: :toothless |
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| itikia |
:haha: :haha:  |
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| dEsidEL |
what a shame .. met a lotta cool ppl from Rochester that are gonna be disappointed that they'll never see Ferry Corsten spin here again :(
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| Jayx1 |
the city of toronto misses the boat yet again har har...
how sadly unorganized this city is. And we say we want tourism. Yeah right! |
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| maxtuh |
WTF, you scare me there for a sec ari....:haha:
i thought ferry was done with EDM!.lol |
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| vtec junkie |
| Yeah I was like WTF!!! No more Ferry Corsten in Toronto!!!:( :eek: :wtf: :haha: |
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| bucky |
| I took this with about 10 other people on sunday to Labour of Love, I sure hope they get the kinks worked out because it was a great experience.. seems as though the more people have ridden it the more people have been interested. |
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| crazedcanuck |
| quote: | Originally posted by vtec junkie
Yeah I was like WTF!!! No more Ferry Corsten in Toronto!!!:( :eek: :wtf: :haha: |
If he plays as badly as he did @ CREAM, Toronto would be lucky if that were the case. One of the worst sets from a big name I've witnessed... I rarely get chased from the dancefloor, and Ferry accomplished that in record time. |
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