I was told that the LAST new ferry, the one currently in use, has two propellers at each end but no rudder.  It is steered by reversing or forwarding its port or starboard engine.

As all boaters know, there is a west to east current in the Western Gap and the ferry often slips eastward during its short crossing. If that ferry is pushed eastward below its docking slip, the appropriate engine is given power to change the boat's direction westward to get it into that slip.

Unfortunately that activity also accelerates the boat's forward motion and it sometimes enters the slip too quickly thus banging the dock or the seawall.

If the above is correct information,the undisclosed reason for ordering a new ferry boat may be that the existing ferryboat is a complete dud, and all those officials at the Toronto Port Authority, including the members of the board who voted for it, made a huge mistake which nobody at the TPA (including the CEO who just left for Ottawa) is prepared to own up.  This may well be the real reason for ordering another new ferry.

Please tell me that the LAST new ferry has a rudder and that my information on its steering problems crossing the gap in a current is wrong and isn't the actual reason for ordering a new ferry.

But maybe spending several million dollars more isn't important to the new directors of a body that has a large secured bank loan at the Bank of Montreal and has never, since its incorporation, made a profit from operations.

Roger Wilson