The 178-metre Caribou is one of four ferries Marine Atlantic operates between Newfoundland and Nova Scotia.The 178-metre Caribou is one of four ferries Marine Atlantic operates between Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. (CBC)

Scheduled Marine Atlantic's ferry service crossings between Nova Scotia and Newfoundland were delayed by as much as eleven hours on Tuesday.

A spokesperson for the Crown corporation said the company had problems with three of its four ferries.

"We've had engine problems on the Joseph and Clara Smallwood, and then we ended up with some minor issues on the Caribou, and we ended up flushing our water system on the Atlantic Vision," said communications director Tara Laing.

"So those three incidents together has resulted in a cumulative effect of our whole service being off about 11 hours on each crossing."

Laing says it's unfortunate the delays have occurred during the peak tourist season in Newfoundland and Labrador.

She says barring any other problems, the ferry service should be back on schedule by Thursday.