Preserving Tradition and Embracing the Future – a new era dawns for Manly Ferries

​A four-year grass-roots campaign,  under the banner of Save The Manly Ferries, has claimed a massive win this week with the NSW Minister for Transport, Jo Haylen, announcing plans to upgrade the diesel-powered Freshwater ferries, to new look-alike zero-emissions ferries within 6 years.  In the meantime three of the current Freshwater vessels will be maintained to meet commuter and tourism demands.

Minister Haylen confirmed that the government is currently exploring proposals from five Australian-based companies to build electric look-alike Freshwater vessels, which will combine heritage design with cutting-edge technology.

The Save Manly Ferries Alliance, headed by Councillor Candy Bingham of Good For Manly, was formed in 2020 to rally the community and all levels of government to ensure the Freshwater vessels remained a staple of the Manly-to-Circular Quay route. 

History of the Campaign
The campaign first began when the former NSW Liberal government announced in October 2020 the scrapping of the iconic Freshwater class ferries, in favour of smaller Emerald class ferries, .

“This decision was effectively destroying 130 years of maritime history in Sydney and Manly’s world-famous Manly Ferry all in one blow. It was clear to us that the Emerald II vessels were simply inadequate for the route,” said Councillor Candy Bingham.

Four years of petitions, rallies, public meetings, videos, posters, letterbox distributions and government and opposition advocacy followed. As the months and years rolled on the new Emerald class vessels continued to be plagued with problems.  Built overseas, they were delivered with 80 defects, then they experienced steering problems and eventually the engines had to be replaced in all three vessels.  They continued to struggle with the rough swells across Sydney Heads and failed to meet demand during peak times due to their limited capacity and inefficient boarding, often leaving passengers stranded.

“Despite the fact that our research showed that the historic Freshwater vessels could be converted to zero-emissions technology over time, the issue still remained that they would need to go into dry dock at Garden Island, due to their size, every five years for maintenance and certification. The bill for the Queenscliff was $15m earlier this year when she was brought back into service. This cost simply wasn't sustainable," explained Councillor Bingham.

In 2021 Local resident, Andrew Westwood, who is a former Senior Vice President of Def Norske Veritas (DNV) a world leading ship certification and insurance company, came to the rescue and joined the Save the Manly Ferry committee. Using industry contacts, he was able to have a concept design prepared, pro bono, for the next generation Freshwater ferries.  

The design called for a  fully electric vessel, but with the same retro style. It needed to be a little bit shorter than the previous ferries so if could be serviced at the Balmain dry dock along with the rest of Sydney's ferry fleet. This was a real game changer and would ensure that future ferries could be maintained and certified for a fraction of the cost of their predecessors.

What followed was years of research and government and opposition advocacy by the community group.  

The first win came in June 2023, when the newly elected NSW Labor Government announced that three of the four Freshwater ferries would be saved. This ensured the continued operation of the F1 route from Manly to Circular Quay and came with a $71m budget commitment to maintain them.

However, the future of the iconic Manly Ferries was secured this week when NSW Transport Minister Jo Haylen announced that the government was exploring proposals from five Australian-based companies to build electric look-alike Freshwater vessels, which will combine heritage design with cutting-edge technology.  

“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,” Jo Haylen, NSW Minister for Transport. 

The final announcement is expected later this year when the successful  company is announced which will build this next generation Manly Ferry, in Australia.