Lake Ontario welcomes ‘fast ferry’ for cars

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Queen Mary 2 it ain’t.

But don’t tell that to the Rev. Thomas Wheeland, whose Holy Cross Church commands a lofty view of the Port of Rochester and its new, hulking presence – a five-story-tall car ferry that will soon be darting across Lake Ontario to Canada at over 50 miles an hour.

“It’s overwhelming. It’s huge,” Wheeland said. “For us, it’s very important and very special, and probably has an equal amount of interest as the Queen Mary had in New York.”

A few thousand people lined the pier Tuesday for their first glimpse of the Spirit of Ontario 1, an Australian-built, twin-hulled catamaran that could be the first of several deluxe, high-speed, car-and-passenger ferries plying the Great Lakes.

The voyage from a shipyard in Perth, Australia, hit a low point on April 1 when the ferry sideswiped a pier while docking in New York City and spent days undergoing repairs.

The mishap scrubbed the maiden voyage, a $500-a-berth charity extravaganza set for Friday. Sometime in May, the ferry will begin carrying up to 774 passengers and 220 cars three times daily between Rochester and Toronto. Fares are $28 for walk-on passengers and $40 for most cars.

The 284-foot-long vessel is dwarfed by the world’s largest ocean liner, the Queen Mary 2, a 1,132-foot, 21-story behemoth that steamed into New York last week. But shipbuilder Austal Ltd. has its own superlatives for the ferry, billing it as the world’s most powerful diesel-powered catamaran.

It will make the lake crossing in about two hours and 15 minutes at up to 55 mph. The 171-mile road trip to Toronto usually takes three to four hours, and far longer when there are miles-long backups at the border near Niagara Falls.

“It’s a very spectacular vessel designed for these parts,” said Rochester William Johnson Jr. “I think a lot of people, now that it’s here, are really going to overcome all of their doubts, and we’ll see tremendous use of this vessel. There’s no question in my mind.

“You’re going to see a resurgence of maritime travel, particularly around the Great Lakes, so I think Rochester will be a pioneer,” Johnson said.

Two more high-speed car ferries will be launched in late spring – one in Alaska, the other on Lake Michigan between Milwaukee and Muskegon, Mich. – and itineraries are under review in Hawaii; Cleveland; Erie, Pa.; Racine, Wis.; and along the East and West coasts.

Only one other car-and-passenger “fast ferry” – defined as a vessel that speeds above 29 miles an hour – operates in U.S. waters.

The 55-mph “Cat” ferry, which can accommodate 900 passengers and 240 cars, has hustled between Bar Harbor, Maine, and Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, since 1998. It operates from May to October, heading south in the winter to link Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and Grand Bahama Island.