MV ''Northern Ranger'' was a Canadian ice-breaking coastal

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 ...

operating in

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 ...

. The ship entered service in 1986 for coastal service in

Labrador Labrador () is a geographic and cultural region within the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is the primarily continental portion of the province and constitutes 71% of the province's area but is home to only 6% of its populatio ...

. The vessel provided service between Nain, Newfoundland and Labrador and

Happy Valley-Goose Bay Happy Valley-Goose Bay (Inuit: ''Vâli'') is a town in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Located in central Labrador on the coast of Lake Melville and the Churchill River, Happy Valley-Goose Bay is the largest population centre ...

, stopping at points between. The ferry was owned and operated by the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. At the end of 2018, the ship was taken out of service and replaced by a newer vessel on the route between Nain and Happy Valley-Goose Bay.

Description

''Northern Ranger'' is long overall and

between perpendiculars Length between perpendiculars (often abbreviated as p/p, p.p., pp, LPP, LBP or Length BPP) is the length of a ship along the summer load line from the forward surface of the stem, or main bow perpendicular member, to the after surface of the ster ...

with a and a . The ferry has a beam of and a draught of . The ship is powered by a

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after the German engineer Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which Combustion, ignition of diesel fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to Mechanics, mechanical Compr ...

turning one

screw A screw is an externally helical threaded fastener capable of being tightened or released by a twisting force (torque) to the screw head, head. The most common uses of screws are to hold objects together and there are many forms for a variety ...

. The ship has a maximum speed of .Equasis has the gross tonnage as 2,556, while the Miramar Ship Index has the tonnage at 2,565. This may just be a typographical error. The vessel has capacity for 131 passengers and 100 tons of cargo.

Service history

The vessel was constructed by Port Weller Dockyards in

St. Catharines, Ontario St. Catharines is the most populous city in Canada's Niagara Region, the eighth largest urban area in the province of Ontario. As of 2021, St. Catharines has an area of and 136,803 residents. It lies in Southern Ontario, south of Toronto ac ...

with the

yard number The yard (symbol: yd) is an English unit of length in both the British imperial and US customary systems of measurement equalling 3 feet or 36 inches. Since 1959 it has been by international agreement standardized as exactly 0.9 ...

75. The ferry was launched on June 11, 1986 and completed in October later that year. ''Northern Ranger'' entered service in 1986 with

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 ...

. ''Northern Ranger'' is named after her predecessor, SS ''Northern Ranger'', launched in Scotland in 1936 and operated by the

Newfoundland Railway The Newfoundland Railway was a narrow-gauge railway that operated on the island of Newfoundland (island), Newfoundland from 1898 to 1988. With a total track length of , it was the longest narrow-gauge system in North America. History Early con ...

and later

Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company () is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN is Canada's largest railway, in terms of both revenue a ...

s for thirty years. In 1997, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador took over all intra-provincial ferry service from the federal

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 ...

in exchange for a one-time payment for highway construction and capital costs toward improving the ferry service. ''Northern Ranger'' was transferred from federal ownership under

Transport Canada Transport Canada () is the Ministry (government department), department within the Government of Canada responsible for developing regulations, Policy, policies and Public services, services of road, rail, marine and air Transport in Canada, tra ...

to that of the Department of Transportation and Works. The vessel was then operated by Nunatsiavut Marine Inc. (NMI). The ferry offered weekly service from

Rigolet Rigolet (Inuttitut: ''Tikigâksuagusik'') (population 327) is a remote, coastal Labrador community established in 1735 by French-Canadian trader Louis Fornel. The town is the southernmost officially recognized Inuit community in the world. Loca ...

Makkovik Makkovik (Inuit languages, Inuit: ''Maggovik'') is a town in Labrador in eastern Canada. It had 365 residents in 2021. The main industry is snow crabbing and there is a fishing cooperative. Makkovik is only accessible by air or sea. History The ...

Postville Postville is a city in Allamakee County, Iowa, Allamakee and Clayton County, Iowa, Clayton counties in the U.S. state of Iowa. It lies near the junction of four counties and at the intersection of U.S. Routes U.S. Route 18 in Iowa, 18 and U.S. Ro ...

, Hopedale, Natuashish and Nain with a return trip. On weekends, the vessel travels from Happy Valley-Goose Bay to Rigolet,

Cartwright Cartwright may refer to: * Cartwright (occupation), a tradesperson skilled in the making and repairing of carts or wagons * Cartwright (surname), including the list of people Places ; Australia * Cartwright, New South Wales ; Canada * Cart ...

, Black Tickle and return. As of January 1, 2019, ''Northern Ranger'' was taken out of service and decommissioned. The vessel was replaced by a new ferry, , that began sailing in early June 2019. In early 2020 the ship was acquired by Mushuau Innu First Nation and it was planned to use the vessel to supplement ''Kamutik W''. After a drydock and refit period the vessel entered service but made limited voyages in this role. Ownership of the vessel was then transferred to Natuashish Shipping and was operated by Canship Innu Marine. A legal dispute between the companies led to a disruption of service by the ferry.

Notes

References

External links

The original ''Northern Ranger'' photograph

Photos from Shipspotting.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Northern Ranger, MV Ferries of Newfoundland and Labrador Marine Atlantic 1986 ships Ships built in Ontario