The Quebec Ferry is back in service after a break

The Québec Ferry is back in service after a break of several hours

The ferry service between Quebec and Lévis was able to resume in the early afternoon after a breakdown of several hours on his only available ship.

The connection had been completely cut off since the beginning of the day. According to the Société des traversiers du Québec (STQ), the cause was a temporary power outage affecting the generators on the MV Lomer-Gouin.

“Ferry management would like to inform customers that the ferry will resume its normal schedule from 1:30 p.m.,” Quebec-based Crown Corporation said early in the afternoon.

Earlier, spokesman Bruno Verreault announced that an investigation to determine the cause was underway with a specialized technician on board and that it was not known when service could resume.

For motorists, such a cancellation means a 30 km long detour over the bridges to the west.

Investigation

The STQ had informed its users at 7:08 am that an issue was preventing it from offering river transport until further notice.

A vendor survey was started and an update was due at 10am. This was then moved to 3 p.m.

This is the second time in a few days that the service has been temporarily suspended. A week ago an electrical problem also caused crossings to stop for part of the afternoon.

The crossing is usually done with two boats.

However, the second boat, the NM Alphonse-Desjardins, had to be urgently sent to open the islanders of L’Isle-aux-Coudres, where an incident grounded the NM Félix-Antoine-Savard for more than a month.

For this reason, the Québec-Lévis crossing could be deprived of the second ship until at least mid-June.

disturbances

For several months, users’ patience has been tested, whether due to vessel changes, schedule changes, temporary disruptions, breaks in the STQ fleet or scheduled maintenance.

The Journal revealed last week that ridership on the Quebec-Lévis line has fallen by more than 42% in a decade. The transport minister’s office pointed the finger at the pandemic, while Quebec Solidaire and the Parti Québécois tended to blame the unreliability of the service, which they say was caused by a lack of interest from the CAQ.

We know that the two ships associated with it are over 50 years old and will reach their end of life in 2031.

The Legault government expects traffic at the junction to become “obsolete” when the third link becomes operational and is considering replacing the ferries with river shuttles for cyclists and pedestrians.

Some recent setbacks

  • March 28, 2023: The NM Lomer-Gouin experienced a new electrical breakdown.
  • March 21, 2023: The service was completely suspended in the afternoon due to a power failure on the NM Lomer-Gouin.
  • February 18, 2023: The Québec-Lévis crossing will remain with only one ship for the time being, since the NM Alphonse-Desjardins have to be sent to L’Isle-aux-Coudres as reinforcements since the NM Félix-Antoine-Savard has run aground.
  • October 11, 2022 to November 4, 2022: The crossing is still robbed by the MV Alphonse-Desjardins, which is being removed for routine maintenance.
  • 28 October to 23 December 2022: The NM Lomer-Gouin was urgently sent to cruise L’Isle-aux-Coudres because the NM Svanoy had been damaged by a wrong manoeuvre. Operations are completely suspended for vehicles and cyclists for a week.
  • 08/22/2022: The MV Alphonse-Desjardins has to go into dry dock due to a ruptured propeller seal. He will then be used in Charlevoix on September 23rd. The AML Levante is sent as reinforcements, but can only pick up pedestrians.

Source: Le Journal press review