 | |
| Company type | Private company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Public transport |
| Founded | 2016 |
| Founder | Paul Little |
| Headquarters | , Australia |
Area served | Port Phillip |
Key people | Murray Rance (CEO) |
| Services | Ferry services |
| Parent | Little Group |
| Website | www.portphillipferries.com.au |
Port Phillip Ferries is an Australian ferry company that operates on Port Phillip, providing fast ferry services connecting Geelong and Portarlington to Melbourne Docklands.
Ferries had a long tradition of operating throughout Port Phillip, but the last ferries were requisitioned for defence purposes during World War II and the service did not resume after the war ended. By that time roads had improved and buses had advanced to the level where they were faster and more comfortable than ferries. However, with the invention of fast catamaran ferries from 1990, passenger sea transport became more competitive and subsequent innovations in the next two decades led to a much smoother ride. In 2016 the only ferries operating on the bay were short distance tourist shuttles to Williamtown and St Kilda and the Searoad Ferries connection across the Port Phillip heads between Sorrento and Queenscliff.[ citation needed ]
Port Phillip Ferries aimed to restore longer distance scheduled ferry services on Port Phillip. Journey times were initially slowed by the low speed limit in the lower Yarra River, but a slight increase has improved the situation. The company is owned by Little Group, which is controlled by Paul Little. [1]
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Most ferries between Geelong & Docklands operate via Portarlington | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In 2016 the company operated a trial route from Werribee South to Melbourne Docklands, but patronage was insufficient for the service to continue. [4] [5]
Possible plans to extend the network to Mornington.
Port Phillip Ferries operate two Incat fast catamaran ferries. They are 36 metres long, accommodate over 400 passengers and feature a licensed cafe, bike racks, charging stations and wifi.
Before the company ordered its own Incat vessels and had its own permanent crews, the Capricornian Dancer, renamed Wyndham Explorer, [8] a 400-seat, 35-metre EnviroCat ferry was wet leased from SeaLink. [9]
Geelong is a port city in Victoria, Australia, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay and the left bank of Barwon River, about 75 km (47 mi) southwest of Melbourne. With an estimated population of 282,809 in 2023, Geelong is the second largest city in the state of Victoria. It is the administrative centre for the City of Greater Geelong municipality, which is Port Phillip's only regional metropolitan area, and covers all the urban, rural and coastal reserves around the city including the entire Bellarine Peninsula and running from the plains of Lara in the north to the rolling hills of Waurn Ponds to the south, with Corio Bay to the east and the Barrabool Hills to the west.
Port Phillip or Port Phillip Bay is a horsehead-shaped enclosed bay on the central coast of southern Victoria, Australia. The bay opens into the Bass Strait via a short, narrow channel known as The Rip, and is completely surrounded by localities of Victoria's two largest cities — metropolitan Greater Melbourne in the bay's main eastern portion north of the Mornington Peninsula, and the city of Greater Geelong in the much smaller western portion north of the Bellarine Peninsula. Geographically, the bay covers 1,930 km2 (750 sq mi) and the shore stretches roughly 264 km (164 mi), with the volume of water around 25 km3 (6.0 cu mi). Most of the bay is navigable, although it is extremely shallow for its size — the deepest portion is only 24 m (79 ft) and half the bay is shallower than 8 m (26 ft). Its waters and coast are home to seals, whales, dolphins, corals and many kinds of seabirds and migratory waders.
Searoad Ferries is an Australian company that operates a roll-on/roll-off vehicle and passenger ferry service between the heads of Port Phillip, near Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Bay Ferries Limited, or simply, Bay Ferries, is a ferry company operating in eastern Canada and is headquartered in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada. It is a subsidiary of Northumberland Ferries Limited and a sister company to the defunct Bay Ferries Great Lakes Limited.
Incat Tasmania is an Australian manufacturer of high-speed craft (HSC) catamaran ferries. Its greatest success has been with large, sea going passenger and vehicle ferries, but it has also built military transports and since 2015 it has built smaller river and bay ferries. Based in Derwent Park, a suburb of Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, it was founded by Bob Clifford.
Portarlington is a historic coastal township located on the Bellarine Peninsula, 28 km from the city of Geelong, in the state of Victoria, Australia. It has a diverse population which includes a wide range of ethnic backgrounds, a high proportion of retirees, and a large seasonal holiday influx. The gently rising hills behind the town feature vineyards and olive groves, and offer spectacular panoramic views across Port Phillip Bay. Portarlington is a popular family holiday destination and a centre of fishing and aquaculture (mussels). At one time the town claimed the largest Caravan Park in the Southern Hemisphere, although the size has reduced considerably in recent decades. With direct ferry links to the city of Melbourne Portarlington also serves as a gateway to the historic towns and surf beaches of the Bellarine Peninsula.
The Bellarine Peninsula 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 Peninsula, separates Port Phillip Bay from Bass Strait. The peninsula itself was originally occupied by Indigenous Australian clans of the Wadawurrung nation, prior to European settlement in the early 19th century. Early European settlements were initially centred on wheat and grain agriculture, before the area became a popular tourist destination with most visitors arriving by paddle steamer on Port Phillip in the late 19th century.
HMAS Jervis Bay was a wave piercing catamaran that operated in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).
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HSC INCAT 046 was a wave-piercing catamaran passenger-vehicle ferry. It operated under various marketing names, including Devil Cat, The Cat, The Lynx, and lastly The T&T Express.
TT-Line Company Pty Ltd, trading as Spirit of Tasmania, is a Tasmanian Government-owned business that has been offering ferry services between mainland Australia and Tasmania since July 1993. Navigating the Bass Strait, Spirit of Tasmania ferry services cover a distance of 242 nautical miles between Geelong, Victoria and Devonport, Tasmania. Each journey across the "Sea Highway" takes approximately 9–11 hours in both directions.
A high-speed craft (HSC) is a high-speed water vessel for civilian use, also called a fastcraft or fast ferry. The first high-speed craft were often hydrofoils or hovercraft, but in the 1990s catamaran and monohull designs become more popular. Most high-speed craft serve as passenger ferries, but the largest catamarans and monohulls also carry cars, buses, large trucks and freight.
HSC Hai Xia Hao is a passenger / vehicle ferry. It is a high speed catamaran built by the Tasmanian shipbuilder Incat. The ship was formerly known as The Cat.
Fred. Olsen Express is an inter-island ferry service based in the Canary Islands, Spain. It operates a fleet of six modern fast ferries on five routes. Its fleet includes a trimaran fast ferry, the Benchijigua Express, which was the first such vehicle in the world when it entered service in 2005. The company is owned by the Olsen family-controlled Bonheur and Ganger Rolf, which among other things also owns the shipping companies Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines and First Olsen Tankers.
HSC Hanil Blue Narae is a 74m fast catamaran ferry that formerly operated in England, New Zealand, Australia and South Korea.
HSC Manannan is a 96-metre (315 ft) wave-piercing high-speed catamaran car ferry built by Incat, Australia in 1998. After commercial service in Australia and New Zealand, she was chartered to the US military as Joint Venture (HSV-X1). Now owned and operated by the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company, she mainly provides a seasonal service between Douglas Harbour and Port of Liverpool.
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MV or HSCSaint John Paul II is a high-speed catamaran ferry owned and operated by Virtu Ferries. Built by Incat in 2017–18, the vessel entered service as a ferry between Malta and Sicily in March 2019. It is the largest vessel of its kind in the Mediterranean Sea, and the second largest in the world.
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