After years of operators proposing ferry services in Rochester, the "Spirit of Ontario," a high-speed passenger and car ferry on Lake Ontario, made its maiden passenger voyage across Lake Ontario on June 17, 2004.

The ship, which has been nicknamed 'The Breeze,' is no ordinary ferry. Canadian American Transportation Systems, the private Rochester company that launched the service, describes it as more of a luxury cruise ship than a regular passenger ferry.

The $42.5 million ferry is 284 feet long, or nearly the length of a football field, and nearly as tall as a five-story building. It is capable of carrying 774 passengers and 238 cars. It features bars and a restaurant, televisions throughout, a business class, a duty-free shop, wireless Internet service, two small movie theaters, an arcade and a children's play area. It can reach speeds of 45.7 knots, or nearly 52 mph, when fully loaded, making it the fastest such vessel built by Australia's Austal Ships. And it's equipped to the hilt with the latest shipping technology, including a water jet propulsion system, sophisticated radar and sonar, and a joystick that controls the ship instead of a steering wheel.

The ferry had been running two round-trips a day between the Port of Rochester, New York and the Port of Toronto, Ontario...about two hours and 15 minutes each way. Then, on September 7, 2004, Canadian American Transportation Systems announced that it was stopping operations of the high-speed ferry, claiming accumulating debt has made it unable to continue service.

Since then, the ferry has been sitting idle at the Port of Rochester while negotiations continued with the lenders, various creditors and the City of Rochester. On November 24, 2004, the lenders started foreclosure proceedings in Federal Court.

What's next...will the ferry be sold at auction or will the City of Rochester come up with a way to save it?

Update 12/22/04...The City of Rochester is ready to jump into the ferry business and make a bid to rescue the “Spirit of Ontario." City Council gave its approval last night to turn the financially troubled private service into a publicly run operation, agreeing to create a nonprofit corporation to try to buy the ship at an upcoming foreclosure auction. City officials now must scramble to create the corporation and appoint its board of directors before the court-ordered February 28, 2005 auction...and there's no guarantee that the new corporation would be the successful bidder.

The original lenders, Export Finance and Insurance Corp. (an arm of the Australian government), has offered to loan the city up to $40 million to keep the ferry in Rochester, meaning no upfront public money would be needed to restart the service. But there's still a risk for taxpayers because the city plans to guarantee the loan. Should the ferry flop again or if revenue doesn't meet expenses in any given year, taxpayers could end up footing the bill.

Update 2/28/05...Well, the auction is over...the City of Rochester bid $32 million dollars and they're now in the ferry business. Mayor Johnson said the Rochester / Toronto trips will resume around Memorial Day 2005. It will be interesting to see if they are more successful than the former owners were.

Update 6/29/05...After sitting idle in the Port of Rochester since September 7, 2004, the fast ferry is set to embark on its second maiden passenger voyage at 8:00 AM, June 30, 2005. The City of Rochester has hired Bay Ferries Co. to operate the “Spirit Of Ontario" and they have given it a new nickname...‘The Cat.’

Update 11/01/05...The fast ferry lost $4.2 million during the first six months of City ownership (March through August). Even Mayor William A. Johnson Jr. admits he made a mistake in guaranteeing the high-speed ferry would be a moneymaker or even self-supporting. Can the City of Rochester afford to subsidize this fuel guzzler that has a two year history of lateness and mechanical problems?

Update 12/14/05...Outgoing Mayor William A. Johnson Jr. has asked City Council to allow the Rochester Ferry Company to issue $11.5 million in bonds to shore up the finances of the high-speed ferry service. Johnson said the money is necessary to provide working capital for the 2006 season and prevent taxpayers from bearing the financial hit from complete closure of the service. He said, “We believe this will be sufficient funds for the operation in 2006 without a taxpayer subsidy."

The city backed a $40 million loan, created Rochester Ferry Co. to oversee operations and bought the ship last February for $32 million, leaving $8 million for operating expenses. The Rochester Ferry has exhausted all of the $8 million reserve and run up a $2 million debt in the 2005 season that ended ahead of schedule on December 12th. Johnson is hoping the influx of more working capital will allow the ferry service to have another fresh start with a new marketing plan and new schedule.

Johnson said that Mayor-elect Robert Duffy has been briefed on the proposal as have officials in Toronto. Mayor-elect Duffy said he's uneasy with the $11.5 million loan proposal.

Update 1/10/06...Mayor Duffy ended weeks of speculation in deciding not to back further borrowing to shore up ferry finances to provide for another season. Duffy said the financial risk was too great to go further in debt. "We as a city are bleeding," Duffy said, estimating the city will be faced with repaying $30 million once the ship is sold. Projections for 2006 showed that, even if the service doubled its ridership, increased ticket prices by 20 percent and had no major unplanned expenses, it still would come up $2.7 million short...that is the amount owed on the initial borrowing, an amount that doubles in 2007. There are two other significant contracts...one, a three-year deal with Bay Ferries (annual $1.3 million management fee) and another fifteen year contract in which the Rochester Ferry must pay $250,000 annually to the Toronto Port Authority for docking the ship.

The city now will aggressively market the ship for sale...they're hoping to get at least $20 million for the ship the city bought for $32 million last February. They will need to focus on drawing foreign interest to sell the fast ferry because federal law prohibits the ship from ever doing business between two U.S. ports. Federal law requires that ships doing business between U.S. ports be American-made and American-flagged. The ferry is neither, having been built in Australia and is sailing under the Bahamian flag.

Update 3/17/06...A small British newspaper, The Dover Express, is reporting that a new ferry company, NAVMED, is currently "securing a larger catamaran from America. The 86 meter craft will run from Dover (UK) to Boulogne (France)." The 21-mile route would take The Cat from Dover across the channel to Boulogne and possibly Calais. The paper says service could start early this summer. The paper then gives these facts: "Up until December last year the ship was operating an 82 nautical mile service on Lake Ontario in America and Canada linking the Ports of Rochester, New York and Toronto, Ontario."

City of Rochester officials will not talk openly about its effort to sell the ferry. The person leading the sales team for the city is Tom Richards who said, "We're continuing to negotiate with people with respect to the sale of the ferry." Richards would not comment if NAVMED was one of the prospective buyers...he said the city is not discussing ferry details in public at this time.

Also, one local TV station is reporting that Trasmediterranea, located in Spain, has also bid on the ferry.

Update 4/03/06...The fast ferry may be leaving Rochester next Monday. Crew members of the ferry have been contacted and told to be ready for an April 10th departure...however, they were not told where the ferry is going. The Coast Guard is meeting with Bay Ferries and city officials at the Port of Rochester Tuesday morning.  The Coast Guard says it will then inspect the ferry to see if it still complies with the International Conference for Safety of Life at Sea also known as SOLAS.

The Saint Lawrence Seaway Authority has been contacted by agents involved in the sale to ask about seaway fees, but the application for clearance to go through the seaway has not yet been filed.

A spokesman for NAVMED said they have bid more than $32 million for the ferry, but as of this afternoon, they have not been contacted by the city, although the offer still stands.

Mayor Duffy was asked again about the ferry sale. He said, "I think I've said so many times I would love the opportunity to have us all call a press conference and tell you that situation has been finalized. It has not...a lot of things are on going as we speak."

Update 4/06/06...It looks like the fast ferry is heading to Spain. Crewmembers of the ferry have been given a travel itinerary that says the ferry's final destination is Barcelona, Spain. The paper work also includes information about a ferry company called Euroferrys, a company that is in the process of being taken over by Trasmediterranea or Trasmed, one of the companies that has been negotiating with the city of Rochester.

Mayor Duffy is still saying that the city will not discuss the ferry negotiations publicly, but he did say the sale has not happened yet. "It's at a point where there's an awful lot of activity. Clearly, there's so many issues, some small, some not so small, that have to be resolved before we could declare any sense of finality with this. Again, looking forward to having a chance to make that announcement when it happens."

Update 5/3/06...Today the city announced that the Fast Ferry has been to sold to a British company. Euroferries has won the bid to buy the boat...the price tag - $29.8 million, that's about $2 million less than the $32 million the city paid for the ship two years ago. Mayor Duffy said Euroferries bid was the highest of seven bids that they took seriously. The money will be used to pay off debt owed to Australian lender EFIC and to replenish the city's reserve fund. Euroferries says it plans to get the ship as early as next week to run it between the U.K. and France.

The City of Rochester will be paying for the ship long after it departs for the English Channel. It will be repaid with taxpayer money instead of ferry revenue, as initially planned. The city will be left with a debt estimated at $19 million, to be paid off over the next 15 years. City officials said interest will add roughly $9 million.

Update 6/8/06...Why is the Fast Ferry still docked at the Port of Rochester? It's been over a month since the ferry sale was announced and even mayor Bob Duffy says he's frustrated that the ship is still here. But now according to Euroferries, the British company buying the boat, the problems that delayed closing the deal will be fixed within the next few days. Euroferries also agreed to pay the City $6,000 a day for dockage and maintenance until the ferry leaves.

Update 7/18/06... The sale of the ferry was announced back in early May.  But now, more than two months later, most of the ferry crew has been told to quote, "stand down"...the size of the crew is down to wintertime levels, when there was no chance the ferry was going anywhere. So who's left...not many:  one captain, two engineers and two seamen.

Euroferries says it still intends to close the transaction, but is still working on financing the ferry operation. By choosing Euroferries, the City of Rochester passed on an offer from Navmed, a company that said publicly it has millions to buy the ferry and is still interested.  Today, Navmed CEO John Paul Airs said, “All they need to do is sign the document saying yes they're willing to enter into contract with me and I'll be over there to sort things out...if Rochester wants to sell it to me, all they have to do is phone me and say ‘John lets move forward.' I'm ready, that's all I want." One TV station said they called city hall to get a reaction, but the call was not returned.

Update 7/27/06...An audit of Rochester's high-speed ferry service released today by the State Comptroller's Office found that former Rochester city officials ignored many warnings that the project had a "very high potential for failure" and didn't adequately protect the city financially when the project went awry...click here for more info.

Update 8/23/06...There is still no progress regarding the sale of the ferry. Earlier this month, the City made another $1,000,000 loan payment to EFIC. Today, a local TV station obtained a copy of Euroferries' credit report from the BBC in London. It shows the company's name at the top. Then it shows that Euroferries' credit limit is £500 (less than $1,000). It's credit score is 49 out of a possible 100. Also, Mayor Duffy said that Euroferries has not paid any of the dockage and maintenance fees of $6,000 per day that they agreed to back in June, Oh oh...it doesn't look good.

Update 8/31/06...A Danish ferry company toured the ferry a few days ago. The name of the company is Bornholms Trafikken. Bornholm is an island off the coast of Denmark. They operate three ferry routes, all from the island to Copenhagen, Denmark, Sweden and Germany and carries about 1.3 million passengers a year. The company is government run and the subsidy reaches about $14 million a year. The CEO of Bornholms Trafikken, Mads Kofod, said they are in the market for a new boat, but it's in the early stages right now. He said the Fast Ferry is similar to a high-speed ferry the company already owns, but because the Spirit of Ontario runs on diesel it is more cost effective. The City of Rochester will only say there are several interested, legitimate and qualified parties interested in the ferry.

Update 12/18/06...The fast ferry may finally be headed out of the Port of Rochester by the end of this week. The local media is saying that the ferry could leave Thursday or Friday...it will leave Rochester, go through the St. Lawrence Seaway, ending up near Halifax, Nova Scotia. Once there, the vessel will be taken to the shipyard and dry dock. While in dry dock, the fast ferry will undergo repairs that include fixing a crack in the hull of the vessel. The estimated cost for the trip is around $1.6 million dollars. Bay Ferries, the Canadian company contracted to manage the ferry over the past year, has contacted the Great Lakes Pilotage Authority....the ferry will need a pilot to travel through the Seaway which will be closed from 12/29/06 until spring 2007. While the city will not confirm that the ferry will be gone by the end of the week, it does say it will be prepared to leave when the sale is complete.

Update 12/21/06...The wait is over...the the high speed ferry that sat idle for more than a year at the port of Rochester made its final departure from the Port of Rochester at 6:42 this evening. The ship passed it's Coast Guard inspection earlier today. The deal to sell the ship to Euroferries is still not complete, but the city said that the unfavorable weather forecast made it important for the ship to leave tonight. It will be docked in Shelburne, Nova Scotia and at some point taken to nearby Halifax to undergo repairs.

Update 2/1/07...Renewed interest in the fast ferry is coming from Denmark. Last week, Bornholms Trafikken (operators of a ferry service between Denmark, Sweden and Germany) sent two representatives to Nova Scotia for another inspection of the ferry. Mayor Bob Duffy said, "I think I mentioned previously that there were two very serious buyers...we're at a point now the first entity with a check for the fast ferry we close this deal."

Update 2/27/07...It's been ten months since Mayor Duffy announced the $29.8 million deal with Euroferries. Since then the city has talked with several other ferry companies, including a German ferry company, FRS that took the ferry for a test run today. The Mayor said he had no comment about FRS.

Update 3/7/07...Mayor Bob Duffy is demanding a meeting with potential fast ferry buyer Euroferries Limited, but it may be too late. SpeedFerries, another European ferry operator, says it signed a four-year lease for space at Dover's Western Docks...the same space Euroferries was planning to use to run service between England and France using Rochester's ferry. SpeedFerries says it will be the only Dover based fast ferry operator to offer port facilities in Dover and Boulogne.

Update 3/14/07...Another potential buyer...Steam Packet, a ferry company from Ireland, toured the Spirit Of Ontario last weekend.

Update 3/17/07...Mayor Bob Duffy has rejected new conditions proposed by Euroferries in the sale of the fast ferry. City Attorney Tom Richards is now in Nova Scotia negotiating with Euroferries and two other prospective buyers.

Update 4/2/07...The fast ferry has been sold to a German based company named FRS for $30 million. According to Mayor Duffy, a $3 million deposit was wired to a New York City bank today. FRS currently runs ferries between Spain and Morocco. Duffy said he expects the final closing to take place by the end of April.

The FRS deal represents a little better price than the city had hoped to get from Euroferries. Duffy said the city will still have a debt of $20 million on the boat, to be paid back over 15 years.

Both Mayor Duffy and City Attorney Thomas Richards said it would have been easy to sell the ferry for a cheaper price, but said they believed it was important to wait until the right deal was struck to protect taxpayers...“To give it away for a quick sale would have been a disservice for the taxpayers of this city...every dollar we are able to get from the sale helps to pay down the debt."

Update 4/19/07...Mayor Robert Duffy announced that the city has closed on the deal to sell the fast ferry to Forde Reederei Seetouristik Gmbh & Co. KG (FRS), a German company with various shipping and ferry interests, for the sum of $30 million. The funds have been received and the title has been transferred. FRS took delivery of the vessel in Shelburne, Nova Scotia. It may be moved as early as this weekend. The vessel will be taken to Germany where some work will be performed and the boat will eventually provide ferry service between Spain and Morocco.

Fast Ferry Website

City of Rochester's Ferry Page

Click here for more ferry information.