Magdalen Islands ferry passengers stuck on ship in Souris harbour | CBC News

Ferry passengers coming from Quebec’s Magdalen Islands have been stuck on board CTMA Traversier since the ship arrived on P.E.I. early Wednesday morning.

Coopérative de Transport Maritime et Aérien (CTMA), the company that runs the ferry, said passengers and vehicles on the vessel are unable to get off because the ship had to come in on the wrong side of its dock in Souris.

The company said the winds were too strong for the ferry to land in its usual place. There’s no offloading ramp for vehicles located where it was able to dock safely, the company said.

A staff member at the dock in Souris said ferry workers would be trying to turn the vessel around sometime this evening.

CTMA said there’s enough food and water on board to provide passengers with basic services while they’re stuck on the vessel.

The ferry left the Magdalen Islands at 8:30 p.m. AT on Tuesday and arrived in Souris after 1 a.m. Wednesday.

Late Wednesday afternoon, dozens of cars, campers and trucks could be seen lined up in the company’s parking lot in Souris, waiting for the next trip to the Magdalen Islands.

Jade Caron was one of the people waiting by the dock. She said she stayed in the parking lot for a while last night before staff told her the ferry wouldn’t be able to depart for the Magdalens as scheduled because of the weather.

“We finally were able to get a room last minute. If not, we would be sleeping in our small car with a toddler. So it was tough last night. Mentally tough,” Caron said.

Morale ‘pretty good’

Jean-François Boudreau was going to visit relatives in the Magdalen Islands. He said one of his uncles was on the boat that couldn’t unload its passengers.

“Those things happen. We can’t do anything about it. It’s the winds,” Boudreau said.

“The morale seems to be pretty good despite the situation… That’s all you can really do, pass the time.”

Bluegrass/country group Veranda was providing some entertainment for other people who were stuck waiting for the ferry. The group was heading to the islands for a show Thursday night.

“We had a couple of songs that we wanted to rehearse for tomorrow’s show so we just said, ‘Well, perfect timing to do it,'” Leandre Joly said.

“It’s all right. I mean, there’s worse things in life… We’re looking forward to les Îles-de-la-Madeleine, so hopefully we’ll make it out there to the show and meet the people out there.”