Searoad Ferries (formerly known as Peninsula Searoad Transport) is an Australian company that operates a
roll-on/roll-off
Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their own wheels or using ...
vehicle and passenger
ferry
A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...
service between the heads of
Port Phillip
Port Phillip (Kulin languages, Kulin: ''Narm-Narm'') or Port Phillip Bay is a horsehead-shaped bay#Types, enclosed bay on the central coast of southern Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. The bay opens into the Bass Strait via a short, ...
, near
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
,
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
.
The route operates between terminals at
Queenscliff on the
Bellarine Peninsula
The Bellarine Peninsula (Wathawurrung: ''Balla-wein'' or ''Biteyong'') is a peninsula located south-west of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia, surrounded by Port Phillip, Corio Bay and Bass Strait. The peninsula, together with the Mornington Peni ...
and
Sorrento
Sorrento (, ; nap, Surriento ; la, Surrentum) is a town overlooking the Bay of Naples in Southern Italy. A popular tourist destination, Sorrento is located on the Sorrentine Peninsula at the south-eastern terminus of the Circumvesuviana rail ...
on the
Mornington Peninsula
The Mornington Peninsula is a peninsula located south of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is surrounded by Port Phillip to the west, Western Port to the east and Bass Strait to the south, and is connected to the mainland in the north. Geogra ...
. It is serviced by two ships, currently the
MV ''Queenscliff'' and the
MV ''Sorrento''.
Dolphins
A dolphin is an aquatic mammal within the infraorder Cetacea. Dolphin species belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontoporiidae (t ...
are often seen following the ferries during their crossing.
The ferry service runs every hour during the day, and makes a crossing in approximately 40 minutes (plus an additional 40 minute check in time for vehicles and 20 minutes for passengers). The single journey cost for a car and driver is
A$69, with an additional charge for passengers. The alternative drive from Queenscliff to Sorrento via road is approximately three hours during non-peak traffic conditions.
History
Three sea pilots, Paul Ringe, Keith Finnemore and Maurie Cobal founded Peninsula Searoad Transport Pty Ltd (PST) in 1983. They believed that a vehicular ferry should run between Queenscliff and Sorrento. There were mixed opinions about this from the public. Some people thought that the novelty would wear off and then business would fail. However, the various tourism boards in Victoria were excited about the prospect of having a vehicular ferry, linking the two peninsulas and would also create tourism jobs.
Peninsula Princess
![Peninsula Princess](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/14/Peninsula_Princess.jpg)
After various planning, on 19 June 1987 the ''
Peninsula Princess'' was launched in
Carrington,
New South Wales
)
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, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
. She underwent sea trials before moving to Port Phillip Bay.
[''Peninsular Stamp Club'' (1987), Notes on the inauguration of the Peninsular Princess car / passenger ferry] Her crew boarded her in
Geelong
Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, ...
,
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
to get a feel for the vessel. She had to wait there for the Queenscliff berth to be completed.
The first sailing was intended to be on 7 September 1987,
but the berths specially designed for this vessel at Queenscliff and Sorrento were not yet complete.
On 13 September 1987, she entered service. On the first arrival at Sorrento, the skipper encountered a problem with the ahead/astern controls. She hit the concrete wharf and whilst tyres around the wharf buffered the impact there was still considerable damage done to the
transom
Transom may refer to:
* Transom (architecture), a bar of wood or stone across the top of a door or window, or the window above such a bar
* Transom (nautical), that part of the stern of a vessel where the two sides of its hull meet
* Operation Tran ...
. Commercial operations started on the weekend commencing 19 September 1987.
A few weeks later, during low tide at Queenscliff the crew encountered problems because of the depth of the water and the strong winds. As one of the deckhands attempted to take control by winching the boat in to its berth, the rope slipped and jumped and he was thrown to the deck. By the time he attempted to regain his footing the ''Peninsula Princess'' had been taken hold of by the wind. She was thrown against the edge of the creek and broke a propeller and had a bent shaft. The ferry had to be
dry dock
A dry dock (sometimes drydock or dry-dock) is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform. Dry docks are used for the construction, maintenance, ...
ed for repairs. The business had financial issues and could not afford for this to happen again.
After the new ferry was introduced, the ''Peninsula Princess'' was frequently docked at the former Queenscliff ferry berth. In 2004 the ferry was sighted docked in the
Tamar River
The Tamar River, officially kanamaluka / River Tamar, is a estuary located in northern Tasmania, Australia. Despite being called a river, the waterway is a brackish and tidal estuary over its entire length.
Location and features
Formed by the ...
in
Launceston,
Tasmania
)
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, image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdi ...
.
MV ''Queenscliff''
![Queenscliff ferry terminal](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/33/Queenscliff_ferry_terminal.jpg)
By the early 1990s, traffic using the ferry had increased, and an increase in capacity was required to cope. A new and much larger ferry, the
MV ''Queenscliff'' was purchased, and work commenced on the ferry berths to enable them to handle the new ferry. At Sorrento the existing berth was altered, while at Queenscliff a new berth was built to the south.
These works were not without controversy, and Peninsula Searoad Transport was required to attend the Administrative Appeals Tribunal to resolve the issues. The new ferry cost $5 million, and was put into service on 22 December 1993.
On 12 October 2005, the
Australian Defence Force
The Australian Defence Force (ADF) is the military organisation responsible for the defence of the Commonwealth of Australia and its national interests. It consists of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Australian Army, Royal Australian Air Forc ...
staged an anti-terrorism exercise on the MV ''Queenscliff''. Two
Black Hawk Black Hawk and Blackhawk may refer to:
Animals
* Black Hawk (horse), a Morgan horse that lived from 1833 to 1856
* Common black hawk, ''Buteogallus anthracinus''
* Cuban black hawk, ''Buteogallus gundlachii''
* Great black hawk, ''Buteogallus ur ...
helicopters
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...
were used to fast rope members of the Tactical Assault Group onto the roof of the ferry, and members of the Boat Assault Force boarded the ferry from inflatable dinghies.
MV ''Sorrento''
Traffic using the ferry service continued to grow though the 1990s, carrying about 110,000 cars/trucks/coaches/motorcycles and 600,000 passengers each year.
As a result, in 2000 it was decided to purchase a second ferry, enabling a doubling in the service frequency.
The
''MV Sorrento'' was built in
Launceston,
Tasmania
)
, nickname =
, image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdi ...
,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
at a cost of $12 million, and was similar in size and appearance to the existing ferry. Minor differences between the two include an elevator from the car deck to the top deck, a new lounge at the front called the 'Portsea Lounge', and the number of exterior windows at the top would be in groups of three, not in fours.
The increased frequency resulted in the closure of the
Queenscliff -
Portsea Portsea may refer to:
* Portsea, Victoria, a seaside town in Australia
* Portsea Island, an island on the south coast of England contained within the city of Portsmouth
* Portsea, Portsmouth
Portsea Island is a flat and low-lying natural i ...
-
Sorrento
Sorrento (, ; nap, Surriento ; la, Surrentum) is a town overlooking the Bay of Naples in Southern Italy. A popular tourist destination, Sorrento is located on the Sorrentine Peninsula at the south-eastern terminus of the Circumvesuviana rail ...
passenger ferry service in the early 2000s.
See also
*
List of Australian ferries
See also
*List of Sydney Harbour ferries
*Transdev Sydney Ferries
*Sydney Ferries
*Murray River crossings
*List of Hobart ferries
External links
Historical & contemporary Sydney ferries
*
{{Sydneyferries, state=collapsed
Australia tran ...
*
Port Phillip Bay Bridge proposals
References
External links
Peninsula Searoad Ferry
{{Australianferries
Ferry companies of Victoria (Australia)
Transport in Geelong
Port Phillip
Bellarine Peninsula
Transport in the Shire of Mornington Peninsula
1983 establishments in Australia
Borough of Queenscliffe