“The Collaroy easily has 20 years ahead of it if they had decided to keep it, and it’s perfectly suited for the Manly run,” he said.
Furthermore, he said putting the Collaroy back on the Manly route would avoid a gap in the capability of the government-owned fleet to meet probable higher levels of passenger demand in coming years.
“It’s not cheap to keep a large ferry moored at Cockatoo Island, and any deterioration in the condition of the vessel will only compound the challenging economics for any future use of the vessel,” he said. “The government needs to stop procrastinating.”
Passengers aboard the Collaroy in August 2023, a month before it was retired from the Manly route.Credit: Dean Sewell
Last year the government unveiled plans to electrify the state’s 40-strong fleet of ferries over the coming decade in a major shake-up that could result in the last three large Manly ferries retiring by 2030 as they are replaced with “Freshwater-like” vessels.
Taylor said there was a lack of transparency around the time frame for the delivery of the replacements for the Freshwater-class ferries.
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Transport for NSW would only say that it was continuing to develop options for a future ferry fleet that was emissions-free.
The agency confirmed that the scheduled dry docking of the Freshwater ferry in August had been deferred to March next year due to limited availability at Garden Island, and the navy receiving docking priority.
Last year, the Narrabeen was also bumped from the queue at Garden Island by one of the navy’s defect-plagued Spanish-built warships. The ferry eventually entered the dry dock in February, before it was re-floated several months later and towed to Cockatoo Island for final repairs and sea trials.
Named after beaches in Sydney’s north, the first of the double-ended ferries, the Freshwater, was launched in 1982, followed by the Queenscliff less than a year later, the Narrabeen in 1984, and the Collaroy in 1988.
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