Searoad
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Peninsula Searoad Transport (commonly known as Searoad) is an Australian company operating two vehicle/passenger ferry services.
The services operate between the heads of Port Phillip, near Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
The route is between Queenscliff on the Bellarine Peninsula to Sorrento on the Mornington Peninsula. It is serviced by two ships, currently the MV Queenscliff (built in Port Lincoln, South Australia, in 1993) and the MV Sorrento (built in Launceston, Tasmania, in 2001)
The ferry service runs every hour (during the day) and makes a crossing in approximately 40 minutes. The cost for travelling across the service with a car is approximately A$45, depending on season and passengers; the alternative to drive from Queenscliff to Sorrento via the freeways and highways is approximately four hours.
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[edit] History
[edit] Founding
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. It would link the two towns and would also create jobs.
[edit] Peninsula Princess
| Peninsula Princess | |
|---|---|
| Out of service. | |
| Length | 35 metres |
| Speed | 10 knots |
| Gross Tonnage | 200 -grt |
| Passenger Capacity | 300 Passengers |
| Car Capacity | 30 cars |
| Crew | One skipper, one engineer and three deckhands. |
| Launch | Carrington, New South Wales, Australia. |
| Propulsion | Diesel |
At Queenscliff and Sorrento, various work had to be done to build berths specially designed for this vessel.
After various planning, on 12th June 1987 , Victorias first ferry took to the water. Her name was Peninsula Princess. She was launched in Carrington, New South Wales. She underwent sea trials before moving to Port Phillip Bay. Her crew boarded her in Geelong, Victoria to get a feel for the vessel. She had to wait there for the Queenscliff Berth to be completed.
On the 13th 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.
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 docked for repairs. The business had financial issues and could not afford for this to happen again.
She continued to run for a few years and business went well until it was decided that they needed something bigger to cope with the strain of passengers travelling on the vessel regularly.
[edit] M.V. Queenscliff
| M.V. Queenscliff | |
|---|---|
| Length | 60.1 metres |
| Speed | 10 knots |
| Gross Tonnage | 3,200 -grt (aprox.) |
| Passenger Capacity | 700 Passengers |
| Car Capacity | 80 cars |
| Crew | One skipper, one engineer and three deckhands. |
| Launch | Port Lincoln, South Australia, Australia. |
| Propulsion | Diesel |
The company planned for a bigger vessel to take over the Peninsula Princess. There was a lot of public uproar about this and PST had to attend the Administrative Appeals Tribunal many times to resolve problems.
Work commenced at the Queenscliff and Sorrento berths to make them fit to handle the new ferry.
The ferry was put into service on the 22nd December 1993.
[edit] M.V. Sorrento
| M.V. Sorrento | |
|---|---|
| Length | 61.4 metres |
| Speed | 10 knots |
| Gross Tonnage | 3,200 -grt |
| Passenger Capacity | 700 Passengers |
| Car Capacity | 80 cars |
| Crew | One skipper, one engineer and three deckhands. |
| Launch | Launceston, Tasmania, Australia. |
| Propulsion | Diesel |
A few years later, it was decided to built another ferry in Launceston, Tasmania, Australia. This ferry would not be identical to the Queenscliff but would look similar. The differences were:
- An elevator from the car deck to the top deck
- A new lounge at the front called the Portsea Lounge
- The number of windows at the top would be in groups of three, not in fours.
[edit] Photo Gallery
 Picture of M.V. Queenscliff docked at Sorrento |
 The MV Sorrento on Port Phillip Bay |
[edit] See also
[edit] External link
 Australian ferries |
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|---|---|
| Abel Tasman | Australian Trader | Empress of Australia | MV Sorrento | MV Queenscliff | Spirit of Tasmania | Sydney Ferries | Brisbane CityCat & Cityferry |
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