List of Hobart ferries

Last updated September 07, 2023

This is a list of ferries that service (either currently or previously) the River Derwent and surrounds (such as the Huon River, Tasman Peninsula, and D'Entrecasteaux Channel around the Australian city of Hobart in the Australian island state of Tasmania.

Current

Name	Year built	Builder	Initial ownership	Current ownership / fate	Max. passengers
MV Excella (Peppermint Bay I / MR0)	2001	Richardson Devine Marine	Navigators	Derwent Ferries	80^[1]
Ena (MR1 (Mona Roma))	2015	Incat	Mona	Mona	251
Freya (MR2)	2018	Richardson Devine Marine	Mona	Mona
Peppermint Bay II	2003	Richardson Devine Marine	Gordon River Cruises	Peppermint Bay Cruises	167
Spirit of Hobart previously Southern Cross	1982		Hobart Historic Cruises	Hobart Historic Cruises	150
ML Egeria (briefly HMAS TASMA)	1941	Purdon and Featherstone	Marine Board of Hobart	Motor Yacht Club of Tasmania
MV Cuttlefish	2020	Richardson Devine Marine	Cuttlefish Cruises	Cuttlefish Cruises
MV Nairana (MV Bruny Island Ferry#1)	2019	Richardson Devine Marine	SeaLink Travel Group	SeaLink Travel Group	36 vehicles
MV Parrabah (MV Bruny Island Ferry#2)	2020	Richardson Devine Marine	SeaLink Travel Group	SeaLink Travel Group	36 vehicles
MV Marana	2002	Richardson Devine Marine	Navigators	Port Arthur Historic Site
Wild Thing		Kirby Marine	Pennicott Wilderness Cruises	Bruny Island Cruises and Tasman Island Cruises	43
The Shearwater		Kirby Marine	Pennicott Wilderness Cruises	Bruny Island Cruises and Tasman Island Cruises	43
Silver Gull		Kirby Marine	Pennicott Wilderness Cruises	Bruny Island Cruises and Tasman Island Cruises	43
Albatross		Kirby Marine	Pennicott Wilderness Cruises	Bruny Island Cruises and Tasman Island Cruises	43
Storm Petrel		Kirby Marine	Pennicott Wilderness Cruises	Bruny Island Cruises and Tasman Island Cruises	43
		Kirby Marine	Pennicott Wilderness Cruises	Bruny Island Cruises and Tasman Island Cruises	43
		Kirby Marine	Pennicott Wilderness Cruises	Bruny Island Cruises and Tasman Island Cruises	43
		Kirby Marine	Pennicott Wilderness Cruises	Bruny Island Cruises and Tasman Island Cruises	43
Sea Dragon		Kirby Marine	Pennicott Wilderness Cruises	Iron Pot Cruises	20
Minke		Kirby Marine	Pennicott Wilderness Cruises	Iron Pot Cruises	20
Little Penguin		Kirby Marine	Pennicott Wilderness Cruises	Iron Pot Cruises	20
The Blade	2015	Alufab Marine & Fabrication	Pennicott Wilderness Cruises	Pennicott Wilderness Cruises	30
Southern Edge	2019	Alufab Marine & Fabrication	Pennicott Wilderness Cruises	Pennicott Wilderness Cruises	22

Previously

Name	Year Built	Builder	Initial Ownership	Current Ownership / Fate	Max. Passengers
MV Cartela	1912	Purdon & Featherstone	Huon, Channel & Peninsula Steamship Company	Franklin, Tasmania	500
MV Bundeena	1946	W Holmes Bros	Captain Robert Ryall	Lavender Bay, Sydney ^[2]	198
Surprise	1889	Tom Purdon		Unknown
Success renamed Kathleen	c. 1880	Jacob Bailey Chandler		Unknown
Result				Unknown
Victory	c. 1880	Jacob Bailey Chandler		Unknown
Silver Crown	1889	Bayes Bros, William Bayes		Unknown
Huon	1892			Unknown
Enterprise	1872	John Clark		Unknown
VS Kangaroo	1903	Lt-Governor William Denison		Bellerive, Tasmania – sank 1929^[3]
SS Derwent	1905			Unknown	590
SS Rosny	1913
SS Lindisfarne				Unknown
SS Reemere	1910	Purdon & Featherstone		Seen trading in Vanuatu in 2010
Lurgurena	1926			Unknown
SS Lottah	1901	John Wilson		Unknown
SS Ronnie	1903			Unknown
SS Breone	c. 1910	Frederick Moore		Unknown
Bass	1911	Frederick Moore		Unknown
SS Beagle				Unknown	6 vehicles
MV Emmalisa (Formally Regent Star, Nowra, Challenger Head, Kangaroo)	1947		Hobart Historic Cruises	Port Huon, Tas
SS Marana		Purdon & Featherstone		Became a fishing trawler
Monarch				Sank at lime Kilns
Emu		P Degraves & J Gray		Sank New Norfolk, Tas Bridge 1897
Maweena	1913	Purdon & Featherstone		Burnt Bellerive, Tas 1929
SS Togo renamed ( HMAS Phillip )	1905	Fred Moore	James Rowe & Sons	Decomm. 1931 – Gutted Mt. Direction, East Risdon 1946^[4]	500
MV Excella	1912	John Dalgleish	James Rowe & Sons	Unknown
SS Mangana previously George Peat	1930	Tasmanian Steam Navigation Company		Unknown	37 vehicles
SS Taranna	1893			Unknown	120	^[5]^[6]
Ray Larsson	1970	Tamar Steel Boats, Launceston		Unknown
O’Hara Booth renamed Sydney	1974			Port Jackson	120
Phoenix				Unknown
Kosciusko	1911	David Drake Limited, Sydney	Sydney Ferries Limited, to Hobart 1975	Prince of Wales Bay – Burnt^[7]	785
Lady Ferguson		David Drake Limited, Sydney	Sydney Ferries Limited	rotten and broken up 1975
Wakatere (hovercraft)	1973	Hovermarine, Southampton		Matiatia, Wakatere, NZ – Scrapped
MV Matthew Brady	1973	Sullivans Cove Ferry Company		Unknown
MV James McCabe	1974	Sullivans Cove Ferry Company		Unknown
Lady Wakehurst	1974	Carrington Slipways	Public Transport Commission	Solomon Islands ^[8]	800
MV Martin Cash	1975	Bob Clifford		Sydney ^[9]
MV Jeremiah Ryan	1977	Incat		Unknown
MV James Kelly	1979	Incat		Unknown
H₂O Express			Hobart Water Taxis	Brisbane ^[10]	30
SS Awittaka	1910		Huon, Channel & Peninsula Steamship Company	Sold to the administration of the British Solomon Islands Protectorate
SS Dover			Unknown
Rowitta	1910	Purdon & Featherstone		Flagstaff Hill, Vic – demolished^[11]
ML Gayclite	c. 1943			Unknown
ML Taruna	c. 1910	Charles Harold McKay		Unknown
Melba	1921	Wilson Bros		Unknown	22 vehicles
MV Commodore				Cygnet
MV Wanderer				Unknown
MV Lady Jane			Captain Fells Historic Cruises	Abandoned^[12]
MV Bowen			Backspring Pty Ltd	SeaLink Travel Group	30 vehicles
MV Moongalba	1974		Stradbroke Ferries	SeaLink Travel Group	30 vehicles
MV Harry O May previously Man On	1952	Hong Kong United Dockyard, Hong Kong		Launceston, Tas	48 vehicles
MV Mirambeena	1991	Tamar Steel Boats, Launceston	Tasmanian Government	Disassembled 2022^[13]	74 vehicles

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References

↑ FREE ferry to Salamanca Market 18 January 2019
↑ MV Bundeena History retrieved 1 January 2019
↑ Companion to Tasmanian History retrieved 1 January 2019
↑ Togo-Once Cock-O'-The-River Towed To Ships' Graveyard For Breaking Up 31 October 1946
↑ The Mercury, Hobart, Tas.Thursday 6 April 1893, passengers travel to South Arm for consecration of St.Barnabas
↑ SS Taranna, passing through the railway swing bridge at Bridgewater heading to New Norfolk, posted by Trainiac
↑ Half block ship model of Sydney screw steam ferry S S “Kosciusko “ retrieved 1 January 2019
↑ Squat new ferry Lady Wakehurst kept the Manly service afloat retrieved 1 January 2019
↑ Martin Cash Cruises retrieved 1 January 2019
↑ Hobart water taxi operator Rod Howard winds up after seven years of ‘feast or famine’ 25 March 2015
↑ The Removal of The Rowitta from Flagstaff Hill 22 April 2015
↑ It's stormy seas for ferry boss 16 December 2013
↑ What are your memories of the MV Mirambeena?

Sources

John Duffy and Louis Rodway, The Cock of the River "Cartela", 1996
https://web.archive.org/web/20140927001436/http://hobartwatertaxis.com/about-us/

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[1] FREE ferry to Salamanca Market 18 January 2019

[2] MV Bundeena History retrieved 1 January 2019

[3] Companion to Tasmanian History retrieved 1 January 2019

[4] Togo-Once Cock-O'-The-River Towed To Ships' Graveyard For Breaking Up 31 October 1946

[5] The Mercury, Hobart, Tas.Thursday 6 April 1893, passengers travel to South Arm for consecration of St.Barnabas

[6] SS Taranna, passing through the railway swing bridge at Bridgewater heading to New Norfolk, posted by Trainiac

[7] Half block ship model of Sydney screw steam ferry S S “Kosciusko “ retrieved 1 January 2019

[8] Squat new ferry Lady Wakehurst kept the Manly service afloat retrieved 1 January 2019

[9] Martin Cash Cruises retrieved 1 January 2019

[10] Hobart water taxi operator Rod Howard winds up after seven years of ‘feast or famine’ 25 March 2015

[11] The Removal of The Rowitta from Flagstaff Hill 22 April 2015

[12] It's stormy seas for ferry boss 16 December 2013

[13] What are your memories of the MV Mirambeena?

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