A passenger ferry could begin trial runs between Portarlington and Melbourne’s Docklands in May, according to a group pushing for the service.
But the trial would have to make “allowances” until completion of a permanent berth in the town’s harbour later this year, said Portarlington Safe Harbour and Bellarine Ferry Group in its quarterly update email.
The Indy reported last year that the Little Group wanted to trial the service to complement its ferry to Melbourne from a new waterfront Wyndham residential development.
“Now that the new Wyndham Harbour is complete, the Little Group are working through the final items to get that service underway,” this week’s email update said.
“They expect at the latest a ferry will come down from Queensland in May to start trials for the Wyndham ferry service. They also plan while the ferry is available to trial the Portarlington run to Docklands.
“Given that the Portarlington Safe Harbour is still being built, allowances will have to be made if the ferry cannot berth at the present pier during the running of these trials.”
The success of the Wyndham ferry would “play a big part in the design of the Portarlington service”, the Portarlington group said.
The safe harbour, under construction at Portarlington, will include a floating berth for ferries. The passenger service has been mooted for years but has lacked adequate berthing facilities and a financial backer.
The Little Group’s boss told ABC radio in October that the ferry from Portarlington to Docklands would be faster than the same trip by road.
The initial plan was to sail from Portarlington to Wyndham and on to Docklands, Paul Little said.
The company had been in talks with Sea Link Travel Group about operating the trial, he told the ABC.
