It’s been in the pipeline for years, and the iconic Freshwater Class ferries will finally go electric after years of campaigning by Manly councillor Candy Bingham.
The State Government has committed $71 million to make the new ferries locally, and has already started talking to the market about designs for the next generation vessels.
“The new vessels will need to replicate the existing Freshwater’s performance in big swells and will utilise dual-level boarding to quickly load and unload big summer crowds,” the government said in a statement.
Queenscliff and Freshwater are currently serving the Manly route, with Queenscliff in action until November 2027, and Freshwater due to have its survey renewed in mid-2025, allowing it to operate until July 2030. Narrabeen will return to the Manly route early next year after repairs and maintenance.
The length of the new ferries will be subject to ongoing discussions and detailed design. The Freshwaters rely solely on available slots at the Australian Navy’s Captain Cook graving dock for major maintenance, smaller vessels are able to utilise alternative dry-docks like the government-owned Balmain Shipyard.
Candy Bingham, likely to be re-elected for her third term on Northern Beaches Council, said she was ‘so pleased’ the government had listened to her call for a permanent solution. “We’ve called for any Freshwater replacement to be a fully electric ‘look alike’ to the current Manly ferries, and I hope this market sounding process delivers us exactly that,” Ms Bingham said. “A ferry that is just a little bit smaller won’t have to go into the Navy’s dry dock to be certified every five 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 previous government had imported three Emeralds for the Manly route, but these have been plagued with issues, including being the incorrect width for the wharves which caused queues in the summer during the busy tourist period.
Transport Minister Jo Haylen: “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.”
“While we’ve extended the life of our Freshwater vessels, it’s important that we continue to plan for our future fleet. Manly needs high-capacity, reliable vessels that can load and unload hundreds of commuters and tourists within minutes of a ferry pulling into Manly or the Quay.
“What we found with the overseas built Emerald IIs was that they weren’t built for the conditions, and people were left on wharves in the summer months because the single gangway couldn’t load these ferries fast enough.
