Delays caused by a fire on board Marine Atlantic's newest ferry Wednesday are troublesome but not unexpected, according to a trucker who crosses the Gulf of St. Lawrence between Nova Scotia and Newfoundland regularly.

Marine Atlantic said Wednesday the MV Atlantic Vision will be out of service for at least 24 hours. The ferry had to turn back to North Sydney after a fire was discovered in its thermal heating unit, and then put out.

A spokeswoman for Marine Atlantic said there were no reports of injuries, and all 626 passengers were safely taken off the ferry.

Joel Hitchcock, a Nova Scotian truck driver who was on Newfoundland en route to Port aux Basques with a load of fish when a co-worker told him about the problems, said delays on the Gulf ferry are so common that the latest one had to happen sooner or later.

"As soon as I heard the Vision was delayed, caught on fire, I thought, oh great, here we go," he said. "It just makes it worse because now we're down to two ferries going across."

Hitchcock said trucks aren't given priority on the ferry, even if they carry perishable goods. He once waited for 2½ days to make the crossing.

"It can get annoying, it's pretty tiring, and for us truckers, a lot of the guys, we don't get paid if the wheels aren't moving," he said.

While Hitchcock is confident his fish will survive, he said he hopes consumers understand the delay.

Marine Atlantic also cancelled the Wednesday crossing from North Sydney to Argentia on Newfoundland's south coast.

The MV Joseph and Clara Smallwood, as well as the MV Caribou, were operating on quick turnarounds between Port aux Basques and North Sydney. Commercial traffic has been restricted to the MV Leif Ericson for the next 24 to 48 hours.