A cold night on the sea for passenger, as Qajaq gets stuck in ice

It was a chilly night aboard the Qajaq ferry for passengers, after the vessel got stuck in ice in the Strait of Belle Isle on Sunday night.

The Qajaq, operated by Labrador Marine, left Blanc Sablon around 5 p.m. Sunday before getting stuck.

Hedley Ryland, one of the passengers who spent the night on the ferry, said it was a cold night, but otherwise "it was OK."

"It was very cold aboard the boat, no bunks.… We had to try to sleep in chairs," he said.

"People were walking around and trying to keep themselves warm."

Ryland said he and other passengers were frustrated that the ferry wasn't able to get through the ice, even though the Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker Henry Larsen was alongside it for much of the day.

"Believe you me, there was times I could almost reach out and touch the Larsen," he told CBC Newfoundland Morning.

Ryland said he and his wife had to cancel their flight from St. John's to Fort McMurray to visit their son, since they couldn't make it with the ferry service interrupted due to ice.

While Ryland said he doesn't believe the Qajaq is capable of making the run in the ice conditions, Labrador Marine said that's not the case.

"The ship is designed to operation in ice the same as the Apollo. The only problem this year is the actual ice conditions themselves. They're terrible," said Dave Leyden of Labrador Marine.

"It's not been a great winter, period. I've been with Labrador Marine since 2000 when the Apollo entered services, and winters can be difficult at times. This is the worst one I've seen … and March by far, I've not seen nothing like this at all. It's crazy."

'No ferry' could operate in this year's ice

The ferry got stuck earlier in the day Sunday, so the Larsen was called in to assist, Leyden said.

But as the night progressed, the winds got higher, so the icebreaker escort had to be called off for safety reasons.

Staff did what they could to make passenger comfortable, going around with food and letting them down to the vehicle section, normally inaccessible during a run, to check on any pets.

"Making the best of a not great situation, I guess," Leyden said.

The Qajaq has not made a successful round trip since March 5, a point of frustration for the passengers, as well as the company, Leyden added.

"We're here to provide a service, and that service is to move people back and forth," he said, adding that multiple passengers have had to cancel travel or medical plans.

"It's generally all-around frustrating for them, frustrating for us not to be able to help them.… The vessel is quite capable, but there's no ferry going to operate in what you're looking at out there right now."

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