MV Caribou

The MV Caribou is a Marine Atlantic passenger/vehicle ferry which operates between the islands of Newfoundland and Cape Breton Island in eastern Canada.

Related Topics:
Marine Atlantic - Ferry - Newfoundland - Cape Breton Island - Canada

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MV Caribou is named after the woodland caribou which graces the coat-of-arms of Newfoundland and Labrador and roams the forests of the island of Newfoundland and its mainland area of Labrador. MV Caribou is also named in memory of her predecessor the SS Caribou, a former Newfoundland Railway passenger ferry which operated on the same route between 1925 and the night of October 14, 1942 when she was sunk by the German U-boat U-69. Of the 45 crew and 206 civilian and military passengers, 137 people lost their lives, many of them Newfoundlanders.

Related Topics:
Caribou - Newfoundland and Labrador - Newfoundland - Labrador - Caribou - Newfoundland Railway - October 14 - 1942 - German - U-boat

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Together with her sister ship the MV Joseph and Clara Smallwood, MV Caribou, is the largest icebreaking ferry in the world.

Related Topics:
Joseph and Clara Smallwood - Icebreaking

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Entering service in 1986, she was built by Versatile Davie in Lauzon, Quebec, and is specifically designed for the 96 nautical mile route across the Cabot Strait between North Sydney, NS and Channel-Port aux Basques, NL.

Related Topics:
1986 - Lauzon, Quebec - Nautical mile - Cabot Strait - North Sydney, NS - Channel-Port aux Basques, NL

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A roll-on, roll-off design with a bow visor, the MV Caribou has 2 vehicle decks and 5 decks above, the main passenger deck being Deck 5. She measures 179 metres in overall length and 25 metres in breadth, weighing 27,212 tons. Her capacity includes 1,200 passengers and 370 automobiles or 77 tractor trailers. She has up to 106 crewmembers.

Related Topics:
Bow visor - Automobiles - Tractor trailers

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MV Caribous design had been commissioned by CN Marine in the early 1980s and was the culmination of years of research into effective icebreaking ship designs. The resulting hull design which MV Caribou and MV Joseph and Clara Smallwood were built to is called "Gulfspan", named in part after the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The "Gulfspan" hull is unique among Canadian icebreakers in that the ship slices through sea ice, rather than using its weight to ride up onto and crushing the ice underneath. This design permits the sister ships to maintain close to regular operating speed.

Related Topics:
CN Marine - 1980s - Gulf of St. Lawrence - Sea ice

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At the time that MV Caribou entered service in 1986, CN Marine underwent a restructuring whereby the company was separated from its parent CN Rail and renamed Marine Atlantic. At the same time, CN was beginning the process of abandoning all railway service on the island of Newfoundland, which had been operating as Terra Transport. Several ferry vessels were retired and/or sold at the time that MV Caribou entered service and these corporate restructuring changes were taking place.

Related Topics:
1986 - CN Rail - Marine Atlantic - Terra Transport

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MV Caribou regularly makes the Cabot Strait crossing from North Sydney to Channel-Port aux Basques in approximately 5 hours, 30 minutes, however she has been known to break the 5 hour mark in optimum conditions but frequently comes closer to 6 hours as dictated by established schedules.

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During the summer months, MV Caribou operates the Port aux Basques service exclusively with MV Leif Ericson. During the fall, winter and spring months, these vessels are joined by MV Joseph and Clara Smallwood, which operates the seasonal service from North Sydney, NS to Argentia, NL in the summer.

Related Topics:
Leif Ericson - Argentia, NL

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