Proud of our History - the SS Random

Marine Atlantic, its predecessor CN Marine, and pre-confederation Newfoundland coastal boats have a strong and proud history serving the people of Atlantic Canada through ferry terminals, passenger vessels and rail service.

Named after Random Island located in Newfoundland’s Trinity Bay, the SS Random serviced various coastal communities and sometimes made the Cabot Strait crossing between Port aux Basques and North Sydney during its 20 years of operation. A 279 foot coal burning cargo vessel, it had a gross tonnage of 1,729 and could travel at speeds of up to 10 knots.

As always, we welcome your photos for posting in a future blog. Please email your photos to [email protected] including any facts such as the date and location.

In next week’s blog posting, we highlight the MV Stena Nordica that operated between Port aux Basques and North Sydney from 1976-1981.

Image: black and white, loading bus onto the SS Random