KI Connect ferry service launches after many months delay at Cape Jervis

KANGAROO Island’s long-awaited second ferry is finally opening tomorrow after months of clearing obstacles. They’re taking bookings now, but with a catch.

David Harris with the new boat he's using for the KI ferry service. Picture: Matt Turner

• KI Connect’s website

KANGAROO Island’s long-awaited second ferry service is finally planning to open for business on Friday after months of obstacles delayed its launch.

KI Connect owner David Harris, pictured, said the company planned to start $25 one-way passenger trips from Cape Jervis to Penneshaw in January but numerous problems emerged starting with the ferry service having to dredge at Cape Jervis boat ramp.

“It’s taken four months to get approval for the dredging at Cape Jervis, we got to the point where we almost gave up until the Kangaroo Island commissioner stepped in to help,” Mr Harris said.

“We’ve had to employ a lobbyist to get people to speak to us.

“To be honest, I’m exhausted by it; it’s probably my fault I didn’t understand the difficulty of getting through the regulatory process.”

Mr Harris said a frustrating 10-month process to get ferry service approvals through numerous government departments and Yankalilla council was further compounded on Tuesday night when final transport security clearance was granted.

David Harris inside the ferry, which will be making one return service a day.

He then learnt another government rule meant the company’s $1.6 million James Cowell catamaran couldn’t stay tied up at the Penneshaw jetty for longer than four hours, blocking plans for two services a day.

He is now working with the Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure to resolve the issue.

But in the meantime it means there could only be one return service a day – from American River via Penneshaw to Cape Jervis, departing late afternoon and returning in the evening.

Mr Harris says the hope is to extend the forward bookings beyond two weeks once the service is established.

“In this start-up phase we can only run once a day due to the licensing agreement but we are hoping to offer extra services – and perhaps at different times – once we are up and running ... it is no point, having people book several months out now, if the schedule is going to be different in three months’ time,” he says.

The company moved 25 rental cars to the island months ago for passengers to hire and a bus is set to take them from Cape Jervis’s boat ramp to Seaford railway station, and there were plans to increase the car rental fleet to 100.

The former Kangaroo Island farmer called on the State Government to make a simpler point of contact in dealing with numerous departments for approvals.

“The system of government makes it nigh impossible for anyone to get a timeline to put something like this on, there’s about 10 approvals we need to have,” he said.