Paul Makin

Journalist

At last, some action in the Daintree Ferry saga. Today 4 Councillors voted to start looking at another more efficient ferry to replace the existing vessel.

Councillor Roy Zammataro was the only one to vote no, citing costs to Council and ratepayers of having to buy the present ferry plus the projected costs of the new one. Today’s ‘special’ meeting was called after the plan was rejected at the last Council meeting. Now a solution to the long delays with the current ferry has at least a starting point.

New ferry much more efficient

The new ferry will be a wider four lane vessel. It can be loaded two lanes at a time and carry 90 per cent more cars per hour. Of course, there needs to be infrastructure changes both on the southern and northern sides of the Daintree River. Mayor Michael Kerr spoke with Newsport after today’s meeting (Video) The cost of the new ferry is discussed as well as what’s going to happen to the current ferry.