MV Kipawo is a historic Canadian passenger and freight ferry built to operate in the Bay of Fundy and which later served in Newfoundland and inspired the creation of a theater company. It was the 33rd and last ferry to provide service across Minas Passage, service which had been provided since the Acadian era.
Construction
Kipawo was launched on December 5, 1924, by the St. John Drydock & Shipbuilding Co., the first ship ever built by that yard.[1] Kipawo was ordered for the Dominion Atlantic Railway and commissioned into service for the railway on April 1, 1926. The vessel's name is a portmanteau of the first 2 letters from three different ports on the Minas Basin: Kingsport, Parrsboro and Wolfville.
Bay of Fundy service
Kipawo provided passenger and freight service from the spring to the fall across the Minas Basin. Her sailings were scheduled to connect with Dominion Atlantic passenger trains at Wolfville and Kingsport as tides permitted.