Ferry bad news as timetables in chaos…again
The State Government has labelled another delay of SeaLink’s new
ferries unacceptable as ticket holders consider legal options.
NO IDLE MATTER: New ferry Wanggami remains docked in Port Adelaide waiting on its sister boat Ruwi. Pic: UpsidedownEngineer
By DANIEL CLARKE
20/05/26
Kangaroo Island’s new ferry service - already two years overdue - has been delayed at least another three months as the build of SeaLink’s second promised vessel remains uncompleted in Indonesia.
A statement from the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Joe Szakacs provided to Island Independent late yesterday described the news as “incredibly disappointing and not acceptable”.
“It is, however, something we have been expecting, and we now have further clarity from SeaLink about how services will run from June 1,” he said.
Minister Szakacs said in April that the government would hold the company to account if it failed to meet its deadline but has refused to elaborate on what that punishment would be.
On Monday the Island Independent sent a series of questions to Premier Peter Malinauskas asking if he was satisfied with the governance of the new ferry service's ongoing problems, whether SeaLink's claims that its contract prevents it from commenting publicly without government sign-off is correct, and if he believed the continued sale of tickets on the new timetable was a breach of public trust.
Those queries were referred to the Minister for Transport and none of them were addressed in his reply, apart from confirming the June 1 deadline would not be met.
“I expect SeaLink will announce a revised commencement date at their earliest convenience,” he said.
A few hours earlier, SeaLink released a statement revealing the second new ferry Ruwi - originally planned to arrive earlier this year - was still under construction in a shipyard in Batam.
“Construction of the second vessel, Ruwi, is progressing well and will soon begin final commissioning, harbour and sea trials,” SeaLink’s statement said.
“Her delivery is now expected by August 2026. As soon as Ruwi has departed for Australia we will be able to confirm the dates for both the temporary service shutdown and the new commencement date for the Kangaroo Island Ferry Service.”
The company is now in a race against time to ensure both new ferries are in operation before tourist numbers increase in Spring and livestock cartage from the island ramps up.
Concerns from residents and businesses are growing that the aged and unreliable vessels currently in service will suffer more winter disruptions after another mechanical issue on Sealion 2000 forced it out of service on Monday following maintenance over the weekend.
As of publishing this morning, customers could still book the new ferry service on SeaLink’s website. The timetables from June 1 were then reverted back to correct times about 8.30am.
The company’s conduct raises questions about breaches to consumer law after Minister Szakacs stated on 7 April that the ferries "won't be ready by June 2026".
Hundreds of residents and visitors have been booking tickets on the ferries under the new timetable for months, with SeaLink staff now being forced to reschedule all sailings.
“We are contacting customers with existing bookings in order of departure date, to re-book them on the next available service without charge and subject to availability,” the company said.
“We remain committed to minimising disruption and supporting the needs of all travellers throughout this process and will introduce additional sailings where demand and operational capacity allows”.
It is the second time in a year that SeaLink has been forced to rebook customers after a similar backflip on the new timetable last September when it became clear the initial start date for the new service would not be met.
The Island Independent is aware of a number of residents preparing submissions to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) that claim SeaLink has misled them about ticket purchases.
Adelaide University Senior Lecturer and commercial law specialist Dr Mark Giancaspro drew comparisons to the Qantas "ghost flights" bungle, where the company was ordered by the Federal Court to pay $100 million in penalties in 2024 for misleading consumers by selling tickets for flights it had already decided to cancel, and by failing to promptly tell existing ticketholders of its decision.
“Ordinarily you wouldn't be selling tickets to any kind of vessel or event unless it was at least relatively assured of going ahead,” Dr Giancaspro said.
“To be actively selling a fortnight prior is always problematic if you aren’t convinced that you'll be able to offer that service - that's where the consumer will become concerned because they have a right to information flows and they don't know any better.
"If the company is not actually convinced that they're going to finish the ferry on time than they are almost certainly violating Section 4."
Section 4 of the Australian Consumer Law deals with misleading representations made about future matters. It states that if a business or person makes a prediction, promise, or projection about the future, and they do not have reasonable grounds for making it, the representation is legally deemed to be misleading.
Dr Giancaspro said if there was evidence that it was "extremely unlikely that the ferry would be ready on time and the tickets are being sold without assurance it could potentially be misleading or deceptive".
He said this would be relevant to Section 18, which prohibits businesses from engaging in conduct that is misleading or deceptive, or likely to mislead or deceive. This provision applies to almost all commercial activities, including advertising, packaging, sales pitches, and contract negotiations.
"Qantas was still taking booking for flights and it wasn’t actually certain they were going to offer those flights,” Dr Giancaspro. “They got stung for that and we saw the huge penalties they paid.
"You can end up quite heavily in the hole as a provider. They can order compensation against you to the benefit of effective consumers. They can order you to make apologies. It's pretty damaging financially and reputationally if you're found to be selling tickets to a ferry that doesn't exist when it's supposed to."
SeaLink’s first new ferry Wanggami arrived in South Australia in early April and remains docked at Port Adelaide.
"With Wanggami now in South Australia, a structured program of final preparations is taking place, including formal handover, commissioning activities, and comprehensive crew training to ensure the vessel is fully operationally ready for service," SeaLink's statement said.