Mayor Julia Leu and councillor Roy Zammatarro met with Daintree operators on Sunday night, telling them they were notified the ferry would need to be pulled from the river on 18 December 2017.

However, AMSA claim the dry-docking requirements have been known for five-years.

They say it was recommended the ferry’s previous load line certificate, issued in March 2013, be fully inspected by March this year after an initial inspection deferral from an independent surveyor in 2015.

“The ferry operator would have been aware since the issue of the certificate in 2013 that dry-docking would be required for certificate renewal no later than 2018,” an AMSA spokesperson said.

A private contractor operates the ferry for the Douglas Shire Council.

Cr Leu said Council was not involved in discussions between AMSA, the private surveyor and the ferry contractor, and said contractors at the time advised Council another exemption would be granted for an in-water inspection.

“However, when this exemption was not forthcoming, they investigated several other possibilities to avoid dry-docking, such as underwater divers in cages,” Cr Leu said.

She also reiterated Council was only informed of the dry-docking requirements before Christmas.

“All avenues to avoid dry docking were exhausted to avoid the inconvenience of a temporary closure to ferry users," she said.

“For the past 11 years, ferry maintenance has been performed from midnight to 6am under extreme conditions to avoid a multi-day shutdown.”

Council say they have secured a fruit barge to help growers transport fruit during the closure, while the shuttle bus will be extended from Cow Bay to Cape Tribulation.