Mackinac Island Ferry Co. halting service to make $4 million in repairs

• Effective Monday, the Mackinac Island Ferry Co. will halt all service from St. Ignace and Mackinaw City while it makes $4 million in repairs to its fleet 
• Shepler’s Ferry becomes the only line that services the routes
• Shepler’s has paused its Mighty Mac ship, which goes under the Mackinac Bridge, to offer shorter, quicker trips

The Mackinac Island Ferry Co. will stop making trips from Mackinaw City and St. Ignace to the island effective Monday, leaving Shepler’s Ferry as the only operating ferry service for the rest of the season. 

The Mackinac Island City Council voted to suspend all MIFC ferry operations from Monday through Oct. 31. 

Florida-based private equity firm Hoffmann Marine, which bought Mackinac Island Ferry Co. and its Star Line Hydro-jet ferry fleet in late June, says it will invest $4 million in repairs to MIFC’s fleet, including new engines, shafts, bearings and other parts. 

Hoffman also owns Shepler’s, which it bought in 2022. The firm now has 46 vessels in seven states, and also owns newspapers on Mackinac Island and in St. Ignace. 

Related:

• On Lake Michigan, a coal-fired steamship and ferry eyes a clean-energy future
• The last coal-fired steamship in the US is in Lake Michigan. Look inside.
• Disability rights advocates ask Mackinac Island to allow Class 2 e-bikes
• Mackinac Island ferry switching to electric power

Signs that changes were underway emerged in recent days, when the St. Ignace Chamber of Commerce said in a Facebook post that Mackinac Island Ferry Co. had stopped ferry services from St. Ignace. At the time, three boats in MIFC’s 10-boat fleet were still making trips from Mackinaw City. 

What this means for travelers

The city council’s approval means that all Mackinac Island Ferry Co. docks will be closed and web traffic will be directed to Shepler’s. Prepaid Mackinac Island Ferry Co. tickets will still be honored by Shepler’s as well as prepaid onsite parking. 

Tickets purchased through a hotel or third party vendor will be honored through Aug. 31. Individuals who bought tickets after that date can seek a refund from where they bought the tickets. 

After Monday, tickets will no longer be sold through hotels or other third-party vendors. 

“It’s a new era for us, it’s a new era for you, it’s a new era for everybody that not only visits  Mackinac Island on a vacation but lives here year round,” said Chris Shepler, CEO of Shepler’s, during the council meeting.

Council member Jason St. Onge asked Shepler what could he do to reassure residents that after the council votes to approve the suspension that “things won’t just be ‘willy nilly’,” and Shepler replied, “it comes down to trust and … you're just going to have to trust me on that.”

Repair mission 

The decision to pause trips will help address mechanical issues, which Hoffmann Marine said come up daily.  

“There was a lot of deferred maintenance that wasn't maintained or taken care of properly. So over time, there are issues that would come up from that,” said Jenny Gezella, president of Hoffmann Marine. 

Daily mechanical issues are not only hard for staff but for the community and guests visiting the island, Gezella said. 

“The biggest thing that we're really focusing on is that this is temporary, so that we can get the fleet to the level of standard that not only we believe in, but our team and the Coast Guard believe in.” 

In a news release, Hoffman said it expects repairs to be complete by next spring and is “confident that we can return most of the boats to regular service in time for the 2025 season.”

Effect on Shepler’s

All employees of Mackinac Island Ferry Co. will be offered a chance to keep working for Hoffman during the transition and no jobs will be eliminated, Hoffman said in its news release.

 “We will be adding even more capacity and hiring for all positions to accommodate the increase in guests on Shepler’s docks and boats,” said Chris Shepler. “We have invited all MIFC employees to apply for jobs at Shepler’s, and we’ll train those hired according to Shepler’s operations, quality and customer service standards.”

The company is doubling the frequency of its trips to and from the island from every 30 minutes to every 15 minutes during peak times, but it has paused the Mighty Mac Ship, a 25-minute narrated trip in which the ferry goes under the Mackinac Bridge. 

The change comes during peak season, when 1.2 million people visit Mackinac Island every summer by ferry from St. Ignace or Mackinaw City.