There is a new ferry service which will operate from Glenelg to...

There is a new ferry service which will operate from Glenelg to Kingscote, which will attract many more tourists then the current route from Kingscote to Cape jervis (middle of nowhere).

This will NOT be operated by Sealink.

I feel Sealink will lose considerable customers if this does eventuate.

With a fairly large portion of their income coming from KI ferry, this could be of concern imo.

http://www.theislanderonline.com.au/story/1565737/new-glenelg-ferry-plan/


A new daily passenger ferry service for Kangaroo Island is planned to start late next year.



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The Makris Group, headed by property developer Con Makris, has been planning the new ferry service from Glenelg to Kingscote for several years and has engaged Caj Amadio as project co-ordinator.


Mr Amadio is confident the service will go ahead. “It will happen. It’s too important to not go ahead.”


He said Mr Makris had an “ulterior motive” that made the ferry an attractive proposition.


“He owns a lot of real estate at Holdfast Shores in Glenelg. He wants to bring more people to that area, make that a focus. If you match that with the State Government plan to bring more people to Kangaroo Island, it puts the ducks in a row,” Mr Amadio said.


The ferry team will meet with the Premier later this month to discuss extending the rock wall at the marina pier at Holdfast Shores as per the original design. The work could cost $6 million.


Mr Amadio said the Makris Group would do its own infrastructure work at its Glenelg berth but would work with the government to find funding options for that work and some needed at the Kingscote Wharf.


He said inadequate berthing facilities were one of the three factors in the failure of three previous attempts to establish a ferry service from Glenelg to Kingscote.


“The others never took the time to look at the kinds of seas they had to deal with and the other factor is that they never bothered to realise this is a tourist venture and do proper marketing with packages for accommodation and vehicles and so on.”


A purpose-built 400-seat ferry designed to handle the seas, make the journey in less than two hours and reduce motion sickness will be commissioned, after analysis of 13 years of weather and sea data.


It would take up to a year to build, followed by a month of sea trials and a month of promotional work before going public.


“October next year is a reasonable objective. It will all hang on the government giving the green light to the capital works.”


Mr Amadio said the Makris Group would guarantee the ferry would operate for a minimum of five years and forward estimates are that within two or three years the ferry would be bringing 70,000 to 100,000 people to Kingscote each year.


There would be special package deals for residents.