Quebecers hoping to connect the Bas-Saint-Laurent and the Côte-Nord during the holidays thanks to the ferries between Matane and Godbout will have to be patient as the ferry will be out of service until December 26th.
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This was confirmed by the Minister for Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Geneviève Guilbaut, in a tweet earlier in the afternoon.
The Société des traversiers du Québec (STQ) said the ferry facilities were badly hit by the winter storm that hit several regions of Quebec on Friday.
“The STQ must carry out a full inspection of all existing infrastructure and plan the necessary repairs in addition to a major cleaning,” said a press release on Saturday.
All crossings to or from Godbout will therefore be diverted to Baie-Comeau according to the published timetable.
“The STQ would like to reassure customers who already have a reservation that they will be contacted by the Matane Ferry Reservations department to amend their reservation accordingly,” he said.
The equipment must be tested in Baie-Comeau, in particular any impact on the access ramps.
“At the moment the schedule for the next crossings, which are scheduled for Monday 26 December, remains unchanged, but the STQ will confirm to customers as soon as possible via its alert system that the service will indeed take place,” the STQ said .
No damage was noted on the Matane side, but navigation conditions remain difficult.