Chi-Cheemaun wraps 2026 season, heads to Hamilton dry dock

MS Chi-Cheemaun's 2026 season ended on Saturday, October 18, when the Owen Sound Transportation Company cancelled the ferry's final afternoon sailings on Georgian Bay. Rough weather was the reason. The last scheduled Tobermory-to-South Baymouth crossings were pulled.

The Chi-Cheemaun did not go straight to Hamilton. It made an overnight run to Owen Sound, arriving at the harbour early on Monday morning, October 19.

At 9 a.m. that day, the crew ran a port-side marine evacuation system drill in Owen Sound Harbour. Owen Sound Transportation Company staff and Georgian College marine students deployed life rafts from the port side while onlookers gathered along the waterfront to watch. The OSTC runs these drills as a mandatory safety requirement.

The Chi-Cheemaun then departed for Hamilton, where it will undergo a five-year mandatory inspection and maintenance period. There will be no public fall repositioning cruise in 2026, and the ferry is not expected to return to Owen Sound Harbour for a winter berth before the 2027 season begins. The 2027 sailing schedule will be published on ontarioferries.com early next year.

MarineRadar logged 26 unique devices tracking the Chi-Cheemaun on October 19, a 6.5-times jump from the prior day. The AIS trail covers its overnight run from Tobermory to Owen Sound and its departure south toward Hamilton.