Spirit of Ontario I is a high-speed catamaran passenger-vehicle ferry built by Austal Ships. During the summer of 2004, the vessel operated an 82 nautical mile service on Lake Ontario linking the ports of Toronto, Ontario and Rochester, New York.

Picture of Spirit of Ontario I arriving at the port of Rochester

The Breeze

Such a ferry service was discussed and spearheaded by local politicians and business leaders, primarily in upstate New York, beginning in the 1990s. A group of investors with a U.S. company named Canadian American Transportation Systems (CATS) entered into a contract to build a vessel of a catamaran design with Austal Ships in Perth Australia in 2003 and heavily promoted a summer 2004 start-up for the Lake Ontario ferry service. As part of their promotional activities, CATS marketers created a competition for free boarding passes whereby members of the public could submit suggestions for the service's official "nickname". The winning entry was "The Breeze" and many people assume this is the name of the vessel, however its registered name remains Spirit of Ontario I.

Spirit of Ontario I

The vessel was Austal's seventh build of the "Auto Express 86" design and measures 86.6 metres in length, with a beam of 23.8 metres (specifically designed to meet the requirements for transiting through the St. Lawrence Seaway). She has a gross tonnage of 6,242 and a capacity for 774 passengers with 238 car-equivalents (or a maximum of 10 trucks and 150 cars). The vessel is powered by four 8,200 KW diesel engines which drive four waterjets, giving a maximum speed of 45 knots when fully loaded. Passenger amenities include a cafeteria, two bars, two movie theatres, a children's play room, an arcade, and television and Internet service provided via satellite.

In service

The vessel left Perth on February 17, 2004, crossing the Pacific Ocean and transiting the Panama Canal, reaching New York City on April 1, 2004. The vessel's aluminum hull was slightly damaged while docking for a public relations event at the South Street Seaport, forcing Austal to perform emergency repairs before continuing on through the Gulf of St. Lawrence and St. Lawrence Seaway, arriving in Rochester on April 27, 2004.

The ferry service had been scheduled to begin in early May but delays caused by the hull repairs in New York City, coupled with unrelated engine repairs and ongoing construction of a much-delayed terminal in Toronto pushed the start-up date back to June 17, 2004. With several round trips daily (2.5 hours including loading/discharging and customs/immigration), the service had low ridership initially in July but was carrying close to full capacity by early August. The service had reportedly carried over 100,000 passengers by September.

There was another delay over who was going to pay for the customs inspectors at the Toronto end.

The delays allowed, Lake Express a similar high speed ferry service, across Lake Michigan to lay claim to being the first high speed ferry service on the Great Lakes.

The Toronto Ferry Terminal is a temporary one. It is located in a very inconvenient part of the city, poorly served by transit, miles from downtown.

Service suspension

Unfortunately service was suspended indefinitely on September 7, 2004 with CATS citing financial problems related to initial delays in getting the vessel operational and missing the service launch date in May, coupled with ongoing problems in getting terminal facilities constructed by the Toronto Port Authority, as well as excessive Canadian customs/immigration costs. In addition, CATS blamed U.S. authorities for not giving approval to carry freight trucks, claiming that this altered their business plan.[1] (http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040908/NEWS01/409080315/-1/ARCHIVE2)[2] (http://www.iknowrochester.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=7FDF28FF-2292-4E77-8459-F6BEF53BBF58)

CATS also endured criticism from both nations for its decision to have Spirit of Ontario I registered for taxation purposes under the flag of Bahamas, a flag of convenience nation. CATS was able to do this since the vessel was operating in an international service. Additionally, since it was a foreign-built vessel, CATS would have had to pay significant penalties were it to register the vessel in either Canada or the U.S. (particularly the U.S., given the domestic-content restrictions of the Jones Act). Because of its foreign flag, Spirit of Ontario I was required to have lake pilots onboard during each crossing at company expense. Canadian and U.S. registered vessels are exempt from requiring the services of pilots on the Great Lakes.

The Spirit of Ontario I has remained docked in Rochester although the future of its service on Lake Ontario remains uncertain.

External link

• Official site of "The Breeze" (http://www.thebreeze.com)