Wolfe Islander III back in service after ‘minor damage’ to new electric ferry

What appears to be an absorbent spill boom placed alongside the Wolfe Islander IV prior to divers and on-deck crews working on the vessel on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024. The ferry sustained “minor damage” the day prior, according to the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (MTO). Photo by Aerosnapper Kingston.
People who travel between Wolfe Island and Kingston were once again left stranded this week after an incident involving the Wolfe Islander IV took the new electric ferry out of service.
Around noon on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024, Island residents took to the handful of social media groups dedicated to Wolfe Island (including one focused solely on the ferry service) to say that the Wolfe Islander IV had encountered some sort of problem. Prior to this, Wolfe Island residents had reported that the ferry was struggling to make its trips due to the high winds — Environment Canada had previously announced a snow squall warning for the area, and according to that agency, wind gusts reached speeds of 37 km/h by 1 p.m. on December 4.
The Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (MTO), which oversees the operations and maintenance of the Wolfe Island ferry service, issued a brief statement just before 1 p.m. regarding the incident, though with little elucidation.
“Wolfe Islander WI4 will be holding in Kingston until further notice,” stated the ‘Wolfe Island Ferry Service’ (@WolfeIslander3, ironically) account on X (formerly Twitter) at 12:47 p.m. This account, run by the MTO, has become one of the only, if not the only, source of information on ferry services for Wolfe Island residents, though representatives of the MTO do not point to that account when asked where Wolfe Islanders can find the most up-to-date information.
For regular ferry users, it quickly became clear that whatever problem the Wolfe Islander IV had encountered, it wasn’t going to be a quick fix. Then islanders began posting on social media that the boat had “hit bottom” and was “taking water on board.”
In response to Kingstonist inquiries, MTO representatives would neither confirm nor deny that the Wolfe Islander IV had struck bottom, nor would they confirm anything else, for that matter.
Nonetheless, the ferry was moored at the Kingston dock. Just as Wolfe Islanders began reporting that dive teams had been called in — bolstering claims that the boat had struck bottom –— the MTO responded to Kingstonist inquiries. Specifically, the MTO was asked if the Wolfe Islander IV had struck bottom, if the vessel was damaged and if it was taking on water, if another boat was being brought in to cover ferry services for Wolfe Island (and, if so, which ferry), how long it was expected to take to get the replacement ferry in service, if the docking locations and/or schedule for the ferry would be altered, and what the preliminary timeline is for repairs to be completed on the Wolfe Islander IV.
“At approximately 11:50 a.m. today, the Wolfe Islander IV sustained minor damage while on route from the Marysville dock — requiring it to remain at the Kingston dock for several hours while the damage was inspected. All passengers were transported safely and an investigation began immediately. The Wolfe Islander 3 will enter service today as a replacement,” Tanya Blazina, Senior Media Relations Manager with the MTO, said in an email just after 5 p.m. on Wednesday.
“MTO will provide further updates as they become available. We thank ferry users for their patience and understanding as we work to restore the service,” Blazina’s email said.
Kingstonist responded, asking for clarification on when the Wolfe Islander III would be in service and where the MTO would provide the updates Blazina referred to — while also underscoring the confusion and panic setting in for many Wolfe Island residents, as relayed to Kingstonist via phone calls, texts, messaging, and emails. Blazina responded at 6:10 p.m., her brief reply indicating that the Wolfe Islander III had still not gone into service for the evening.
“The Wolfe Islander 3 will enter service today as a replacement as soon as possible,” she said.
It should be noted that those on the email list the MTO has set up for relaying information about the Wolfe Island Ferry Service, a list which includes Kingstonist, did not receive updates via email. In fact, Kingstonist has not received an email from that list as of this article’s publication.
Around this time, Kingstonist photographers attended the Wolfe Island ferry dock on the “mainland,” where pumper trucks from the Tomlinson Group were actively pumping water out of the electric ferry. Kingstonist cannot say specifically where the water was coming from; however, the fact that pumping was taking place does suggest that the vessel had been taking on water due to the damage it sustained, regardless of how that damage occurred.
Multiple pumper trucks attended the Wolfe Island ferry dock in Kingston on the night of Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024, where they drove directly onto the out-of-service Wolfe Islander IV and began pumping water out of the boat, although exactly where from is not known. Photos by Cody Stafford-Arenburg/Kingstonist.
Again via the @WolfeIslander3 X account, the MTO provided the following update at 8:46 p.m.
“When service resumes with the Wolfe Islander 3, it will operate between Dawson Point and Kingston. MTO will provide further updates as they become available.”
At this point, Wolfe Island residents were able to establish that the Wolfe Islander III would be running from the Kingston dock to the Dawson Point dock (the “winter dock”) on the island; however, the MTO did not relay that information to Kingstonist, nor did they confirm it the following day when directly asked which dock the ferry service would be using on the island.
It was the next morning, at 12:31 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, that Wolfe Island residents — some stranded on either end of the ferry’s commute — could have learned through the X account that the Wolfe Islander III would finally go into service at 12:45 a.m., departing from Dawson Point.
“The ferry will operate on-demand tonight until all vehicles have been accommodated. Service will resume again tomorrow at 0500h with departures on the hour from Kingston and on the half hour from Dawson Point,” the MTO said in a post.
It should be noted that, at the time of this article’s publication, this was the last public communication from the MTO via the X account.
Again, this information was not relayed to Kingstonist, who followed up with the MTO’s communications team again on Thursday morning and asked for a general update on the following:
whether the Wolfe Islander IV had sustained damage due to striking the bottom of the lake (which ostensibly would have to have occurred near or at one of the docking locations),
if the MTO had a projected timeline for the repairs to the Wolfe Islander IV,
where the Wolfe Islander IV would be stationed to undergo repairs,
which dock on the Wolfe Island side the Wolfe Islander III would be using in the interim, and
whether the ferry schedule — an 80-minute round trip with the Wolfe Islander IV — would revert to the schedule used when the Wolfe Islander III was still in service: that is, leaving every half hour from one side or the other.
Kingstonist also mentioned that pumper trucks had been observed pumping water out of the Wolfe Islander IV, and asked MTO if that meant the boat had taken water on board as a result of the “minor damage” the MTO had previously said had occurred. Additionally, the MTO was asked if a shuttle service would be implemented from Marysville (“the Village,” where the “summer dock,” which was supposed to be the permanent dock by now, is located) to Dawson Point, to accommodate Wolfe Island residents who do not drive and had not planned for this sudden change. Once again, and finally, Kingstonist reiterated to the MTO that residents on the island were both concerned and confused, and that information should be relayed to them as soon as possible.
At 2:31 p.m., Blazina responded, again with very limited details.
“The Wolfe Islander IV was moved from the Kingston dock to the Marysville dock last night and the WI3 has been providing replacement service. Departing from Dawson Point, the WI3 operated on-demand overnight until all vehicles were accommodated,” the MTP spokesperson wrote.
“The ministry continues to investigate the incident. MTO will provide further updates as they become available. We thank ferry users for their patience and understanding as we work to restore the service.”
It should be noted that today, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, multiple people could be seen working on the Wolfe Islander IV, which now has what appears to be an absorbent spill boom placed alongside one section of the vessel. Divers have been working at the site as well, diving down and, with the assistance of workers on board the ferry, pulling something up and out of the waters below.
Photos by Aerosnapper Kingston.
Based on reports from Wolfe Island residents, the Wolfe Islander III will maintain the schedule it previously ran on (departing every half hour from either side), though it is unclear if and when crews will take any breaks. The ferry service is running between the Kingston dock and the dock at Dawson Point. There is no shuttle service, and it remains unclear what actually happened to the Wolfe Islander IV, or when that ferry might go back into service.
“We were told no one site had the authority to speak to those impacted and left stranded on either the Wolfe Island or Kingston docks,” Wolfe Island resident Peggy Smith told Kingstonist, referring to the more than seven-hour disruption of service, during which islanders were offered little information and no indication of what was to come.
Smith is just one one of nearly two dozen Wolfe Islanders who have reached out to Kingstonist for information since the incident with the Wolfe Islander IV occurred.
Nonetheless, the sense of community that has united islanders for decades has come out in full force amid the confusion, according to island residents.
“I want to point out how polite and patient the islanders were, exchanging books, food, and accommodations while waiting for information,” Smith said.
The Wolfe Islander IV has been in service since August 2024.
Kingstonist will continue to provide updated coverage of this matter as more information becomes available.