NEW FERRY TO LINK YARMOUTH AND PORTLAND

Visitors to Nova Scotia and New England will soon be able to travel on a new ferry that will start service between Yarmouth, Nova Scotia and Portland, Maine in May 2014. The province of Nova Scotia has signed an agreement with Quest Navigation, Inc. and ST Marine Ltd. to re-establish the Yarmouth-Portland ferry service, which will operate under the brand name Nova Star Cruises and provide daily round-trip service within 24 hours, from May 1 to Nov. 2 next year.

As part of the agreement, the province of Nova Scotia will provide Nova Star Cruises with up to $21 million of financial support over seven years to assist the company with re-establishing the ferry service. Nova Star Cruises estimates that more than 100,000 passengers will step aboard the new, 161-metre cruise ferry, Nova Star, in the first year of operation. Nova Star will leave Portland at 8 p.m. EST and arrive in Yarmouth at 7 a.m. AST the next morning. The ship will depart two hours later and arrive back in Portland at 5 p.m. local time. (http://www.novastarcruises.com)