Narrabeen Freshwater class ferry to be brought back into service

Former Transport Minister Andrew Constance wanted to scrap all four of the iconic Manly ferries — now three vessels will be back up and running amid major problems with their replacements.

Transport Minister Rob Stokes has ordered the Narrabeen Manly ferry to be overhauled and put back into service, declaring he is “frustrated” with the faulty overseas-built boats bought to replace the iconic fleet.

The new Emerald Class ferries have been plagued by cancellations because they are not yet cleared to run in swells larger than 2m, despite being designed to operate in swells of up to 4.5m.

One of the Freshwater class ferries. Picture: Manly Daily

Cracks were recently found in the hull of one vessel after a window smashed during trials, and another was this week put into dry dock to repair a vibrating propeller causing excess noise.

Mr Stokes has now ordered for the Narrabeen to undergo an engine overhaul so it can be brought back into service to prevent further disruption.

The vessel was due for an engine overhaul but had been taken out of service amid plans to retire the boat completely.

There have been issues with the newer Emerald ferries. Picture: Adam Yip

He said recent disruptions to the Manly service had been unacceptable.

“I’m frustrated with the Emeralds. I know that they’ll be a great addition to the fleet but, as it is, there have been a number of issues that have been identified in recent weeks,” Mr Stokes said.

“I’m frustrated, I think the passengers are frustrated and so I think it’s justified for us to get the engine overhauled to give us the flexibility of having a third Freshwater Class able to serve the community,” he said.

The newer ferries have not yet been cleared to run in the bigger swells that often come in Sydney heads. Picture: John Grainger

“I am appalled if the situation is that we have to run buses because the ferries can’t run in those services because they haven’t been certified in those conditions,” he said.

Mr Stokes said the engine overhaul was a relatively cheap way to get the iconic boat back into operation to service customers.

“It doesn’t seem sensible to have a perfectly good ferry just sitting there doing nothing when, at a reasonably modest cost, we can have the engine overhauled to get it back into service to give us that extra flexibility, particularly over busy months to come,” he said.

The Narrabeen is the third Freshwater Class ferry to be brought back into service, after former Transport Minister Andrew Constance was forced to save two of the vessels.

Mr Constance had initially planned to scrap the entire fleet of four boats but backtracked amid significant local pressure and a campaign by The Daily Telegraph.