Replacement for Freshwater ferries to be electric, locally-made

The NSW government has said that the next generation of Sydney’s Freshwater ferries will be locally-made, with Transport for NSW beginning “market sounding” for a zero-emissions fleet, contrasting this with previous decisions to purchase three overseas-made vessels for the Circular Quay to Manly route.

In a statement on Tuesday, the government said the upcoming Freshwater Class “will pay homage to their iconic forebears”. Their length will be subject to ongoing discussions and detailed design, including around docking for maintenance, and the vessels will need to “replicate the existing Freshwater’s performance in big swells and will utilise dual-level boarding”.

Transport for NSW will open an EOI process next month.

“Sydney’s iconic double-ended Manly vessels started as steam ships, became the diesel ferries we know and love today, and will soon evolve into modern electric vessels,” said state transport minister Jo Haylen.

“These new ferries will continue the important legacy of the Freshwaters, provide the capacity the community needs and combine it with new zero-emission propulsion to deliver a next generation ferry that’ll be fit for our harbour for years to come.”

Nine First Fleet-class vessels, which entered service in the mid-1980s, are scheduled to be retired by the end of the decade.

Candy Bingham, Deputy Mayor of the Northern Beaches Council and a member of the Save the Manly Ferry Committee, said, “For years, I’ve said we need a long term plan for ferries on the Manly run, and I’m so pleased the Government has listened.

“We’ve called for any Freshwater replacement to be a fully electric ‘look alike’ to the Freshwater Manly Ferries, and I hope this market sounding process delivers us exactly that.

“A ferry that is just a little bit smaller won’t have to go into the Navy’s dry dock to be certified every 5 years. This will keep ferries in service on the Manly run, instead of being tied up at Balmain or Cockatoo Island waiting for maintenance.”

The statement criticised a decision by the previous NSW government to buy overseas ferries for the F1 route, which “couldn’t handle the swell” and could not “maintain the required capacity needed” on the route.

The government was a critic of overseas-built ferries while in opposition, and last year cited a series of issues that “plagued” the River Class ferries in its decision to buy seven new Parramatta Class ferries from Tasmania to travel the Parramatta-Circular Quay ferry route.

In 2020, the Indonesian-built ferries for the Parramatta River were famously too tall for passengers to safely travel on the top deck when passing under bridges.

Picture: MV Freshwater departing Circular Quay in 2022 (credit Bentriceratops, CC BY-SA 4.0)