BATON ROUGE, La. – The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) announced that the St. Francisville/New Roads ferry will remain out of service until the end of next week so that maintenance crews can repair the ferry’s rudder.

The M/V St. Francisville recently returned from the shipyard to replace the M/V New Roads, which was taken out of service because of a blown starboard engine. During testing, the United States Coast Guard (USCG) was concerned with the M/V St. Francisville’s newly installed rudder.  The USCG will not clear the M/V St. Francisville for service until the bushings are repaired.

DOTD maintenance had planned to repair the ferry at the landing over the weekend in attempts to return it to service sometime Monday afternoon. However, further inspection showed more extensive damage to the rudder than first thought, requiring the ferry to return to the shipyard for repairs.

For updates on the ferries, visit the “Ferry Status” page on the right-hand side of the DOTD website at www.dotd.la.gov or call the Ferry Toll-Free Information line at 1-888-613-3779.

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www.dotd.la.gov