Portland, Maine - Governor Paul R. LePage welcomed Nova Star Cruises to Maine on Tuesday as the company officially announced the new ferry service between Yarmouth, Nova Scotia and Portland, Maine will begin in May 2014."Nova Scotia and Maine have a unique opportunity to connect its citizens and economies. With this critical link restored, we can build on the ferry service as an economic driver and continue to build partnerships between the two regions," said Governor Paul LePage.
The Province of Nova Scotia has signed an agreement with Quest Navigation, Inc. - a Maine-based company - and ST Marine Ltd. to restore the Yarmouth-Portland ferry service. The Cat, which operated from 2006 to 2009, was the last ferry service between the two regions.
In August, Governor LePage welcomed Nova Scotia's economic development minister to Maine as productive talks continued on the development of a new ferry service. The Governor met with Graham Steele, the province's Minister of Economic and Rural Development, at the Ocean Gateway in Portland where he formally offered Minister Steele marketing assistance from the State of Maine, as well as help to secure an operating line of credit from a lending institution.
"We are excited to have reached an agreement with the province, and we are looking forward to offering passengers a unique and entertaining travel experience between Yarmouth and Portland," said Mark Amundsen, president and CEO, Quest Navigation. "Over the next few months we will continue to work full steam ahead with the province, our partners and the tourism industry to begin ferry service in May 2014."
Nova Star Cruises estimates that more than 100,000 passengers will travel on the brand-new, cruise ferry, Nova Star, in the first year of operation.
Company officials will release more details about Nova Star and the service, including fare structure, exclusive vacation packages and other passenger and tourism operator information, in Nova Scotia and Portland over the coming weeks.
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