MV ''Leif Ericson'' is a commercial passenger/vehicle

ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...

in service with the Canadian operator

Marine Atlantic Marine Atlantic Inc. () is an independent Canadian federal Crown corporation which is mandated to operate ferry services between the provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia. Marine Atlantic's corporate headquarters are in St. John ...

. She is currently the oldest vessel in the Marine Atlantic fleet. She was built along with two sister ships by Fosen Mekaniske Verksteder, Norway in the early 1990s. These two are and ''Patria Seaways.'' She also has two half sisters in ''Gryf'' and ''Lider Express''. ''Leif Ericson'' and ''Patria Seaways'' were originally owned by the Swedish Company Stena Line AB as their ''Stena Challenger'' and ''Stena Traveller'' respectively.

Vessel specifications

The vessel has a capacity of 500 passengers and 300 passenger vehicles (combination of automobiles and tractor trailers). She usually operates carrying commercial vehicles only on the North Sydney-Port aux Basques route. Passenger traffic is usually handled by the and and from late September to mid June.

Stena

The vessel was built at

Fosen Yard Rissa is a former municipality in the old Sør-Trøndelag county in Norway in the Fosen region. The municipality existed from 1860 until its dissolution on 1 January 2018 when it became part of the newly created Indre Fosen Municipality in Trøn ...

, Norway in 1990 as ''Stena Challenger'' for

Stena Line Stena Line is a Swedish Shipping line, shipping line company and one of the world's largest ferry operators. It services Denmark, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Latvia, the Netherlands, Poland, Finland and Sweden. Stena Line is a ...

. She originally operated across the

English Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...

between

Dover Dover ( ) is a town and major ferry port in Kent, southeast England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies southeast of Canterbury and east of Maidstone. ...

, England, and

Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a French port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Calais is the largest city in Pas-de-Calais. The population of the city proper is 67,544; that of the urban area is 144,6 ...

, France, and also operated for awhile in freight only mode on Sealink Stena Line's

roll-on/roll-off Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, Trailer (vehicle), trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their ...

freight service to Dunkirk alongside SNCF's TrainFerry ''Nord-pas-de-Calais''. On 19 September 1995 ''Stena Challenger''

ran aground Ship grounding or ship stranding is the impact of a ship on seabed or waterway side. It may be intentional, as in beaching to land crew or cargo, and careening, for maintenance or repair, or unintentional, as in a marine accident. In accidenta ...

on Blériot Plage whilst waiting to enter the port of Calais.

Marine Atlantic

The vessel was purchased by the Government of Canada for its

Crown corporation Crown corporation () is the term used in Canada for organizations that are structured like private companies, but are directly and wholly owned by the government. Crown corporations have a long-standing presence in the country, and have a sign ...

Marine Atlantic in 2001 and underwent modifications in preparation for operating the route between

North Sydney, Nova Scotia North Sydney (Mi'kmaq language, Mi'kmawi'simk: ''Kweso'mkiaq'', Scottish Gaelic: ''Suidni A Tuath'' or ''Am Bàr'') is a former town and current community in Nova Scotia's Cape Breton Regional Municipality. Located on the north side of Sydn ...

and

Port aux Basques Channel-Port aux Basques is a town at the extreme southwestern tip of Newfoundland fronting on the western end of the Cabot Strait. A Marine Atlantic ferry terminal is located in the town which is the primary entry point onto the island of Newfou ...

Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the populatio ...

. She was renamed ''Leif Ericson'' in honour of the 1000th anniversary of

Leif Ericson Leif Erikson, also known as Leif the Lucky (), was a Norse explorer who is thought to have been the first European to set foot on continental America, approximately half a millennium before Christopher Columbus. According to the sagas of I ...

's settlement in

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...

, reportedly the first

European European, or Europeans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe and other West ...

to set foot in the

New World The term "New World" is used to describe the majority of lands of Earth's Western Hemisphere, particularly the Americas, and sometimes Oceania."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: ...

. On 26 October 2006 ''Leif Ericson'' collided with a concrete structure at Port aux Basques after losing power. In June 2010, Marine Atlantic announced an extensive midlife refit of approximately $18 million over the next twelve months for ''Leif Ericson''.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leif Ericson Marine Atlantic Ferries of Nova Scotia Ferries of Newfoundland and Labrador Ships built in Rissa, Norway 1991 ships