President of Bay Ferries, Northumberland Ferries becomes new owner

The MV Fundy Rose is pictured. (Source: Facebook/Bay Ferries and Northumberland Ferries Limited)

The president and CEO of Bay Ferries and Northumberland Ferries is now the new owner of both companies following a sale that was completed last week.

Mark Wilson, who joined the companies as vice president of marine operations in May 2021, took over ownership from the family of the late Mark MacDonald, Danny Bartlett, Don Cormier and Gerry Stevenson, according to a news release.

Wilson, who grew up in South Rustico, P.E.I., obtained a master’s degree in engineering for the Royal Military College in Kingston, Ont.

“For more than 80 years, the companies we now know as Bay Ferries and Northumberland Ferries have been transportation partners for the communities we serve,” Wilson said in the release. “We don’t take these relationships for granted and I am committed to working with our government and community partners to better meet and exceed the expectations our customers have for us.”

The companies provide ferry services between Nova Scotia and Maine, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia and P.E.I.

Northumberland Ferries, which provides service between Wood Islands, P.E.I., and Caribou, N.S., has experienced several delays and interruptions after a fire broke out on the MV Holiday Island in 2022, damaging it beyond repair. The MV Saaremaa replaced the vessel, but it had its own problems and was pulled from the water in 2024.

The company’s second ferry, the MV Confederation, has also experienced a number of issues since 2023 and has repeatedly been pulled from service.

With both ferries sometimes out of service, motorists travelling between Nova Scotia and P.E.I. were forced to use the Confederation Bridge.

Last month the federal government ordered an audit of the ferry service.

On Jan. 26, the MV Northumberland arrived in Pictou, N.S. It will service the P.E.I.-to-N.S. route this summer following final refit work.