many vessels which served this route. The service resumed a few years after the war with the S.S. Yarmouth, under the same company. This service continued into the mid 1950s and was then replaced with the M.V. Bluenose. CNR, CN Marine and Marine Atlantic Following the war, as the economy of western Nova Scotia improved, the need for a year-round daily service was made evident. The service was needed as a more timely route for transport of goods between markets in Nova Scotia and the United States. Demand increased for passenger traffic as well. This led citizens of southwestern Nova Scotia to undertake an extensive lobbying effort with the federal government to establish a ferry service in the Gulf of Maine connecting Yarmouth with a port in New England. In 1949 the Canadian Maritime Commission began to study the possibility of a ferry service connecting with a port in the US. After some controversy as to whether to return to the traditional Boston or New York service, a decision was made to focus the effort on a service from Yarmouth to Bar Harbor. In 1954 the federal government contracted Davie Shipbuilding to construct MV Bluenose which was launched in 1955 and began service in 1956 under the management of Canadian National Railway (CNR) and later (1977-1982) under the management of a federal Crown corporation named CN Marine. In 1978 CN Marine started operating MV Marine Evangeline on a service from Yarmouth to Portland, Maine. In 1982 the old Bluenose was retired from the Bar Harbor service and sold. CN Marine replaced her with a newer vessel MV Stena Jutlandica which was renamed MV Bluenose to prevent confusion in tourism marketing literature. In 1986 CN Marine was reorganized into the Crown corporation Marine Atlantic and in 1997 the federal government decided to end its financial support for the Gulf of Maine ferry service, soliciting proposals from private sector ferry companies to operate the route. Lion Ferry, Prince of Fundy Cruises, Scotia Prince Cruises The growth of post-war automobile-based tourism saw the provincial government encourage additional ferry service with New England, a region with many family connections to the Maritimes dating to the 18th century and which accelerated during the first half of the 20th century. In 1970 the MV Bluenose service operated by CNR was joined by the MS Prince of Fundy on a route connecting Yarmouth with Portland, Maine operated