Ferry fail blame game Daintree residents caught out by closure

FINGERS are being pointed between bodies involved with the Daintree River ferry shutdown amid claims from the safety authority that the operator had known about it for five years.

The Douglas Shire Council announced last week the vehicle ferry would be pulled from the water and closed for five days between February 28 and March 4 to undergo a full external safety inspection to renew its load line certificate.

It will be the first time in more than a decade the ferry is closed for an extended period and it has created a furore among some Daintree residents who held a community meeting on Sunday night concerned by the lack of notice.

A council spokesman has previously said the council was only told by the ferry operator about the need to close in November.

The spokesman said yesterday possible alternatives were investigated, including using divers in cages to assess the underwater exterior of the vessel, but these were ruled out.

But the Australian Maritime Safety Authority, which is the governing body the ferry falls under, has claimed the ferry operator would have been aware five years ago that a dry docking would have been necessary in early 2018.

A spokesman said their previous load line certificate was issued in March 2013 and, after a partial inspection in 2015, a private surveyor recommended to AMSA that the full check be deferred until March this year at the latest.

“The ferry operator would have been aware since the issue of the certificate in 2013 that dry-docking would be required for certificate renewal no later than 2018,” he said.

A passenger ferry and shuttle bus will operate during the shutdown.

A community meeting was held on Sunday night and was attended by Douglas Mayor Julia Leu and Councillor Roy Zammataro. The council is now considering running a specialist barge for fresh fruit and extending the shuttle bus from Cow Bay to Cape Tribulation. The council spokesman said the ferry contractors had told the council that they believed another exemption would be granted this time, but it was not forthcoming.

“For the past 11 years, ferry maintenance has been performed from midnight to 6am under extreme conditions to avoid a multi-day shutdown,” he said.