Kangaroo Island SeaLink ferry weather and maintenance updates

SeaLink sent specialist technicians to Cape Jervis and is posting updates on its website.

UPDATE: The Spirit of Kangaroo Island ferry developed a minor technical issue on Friday morning, August 5, 2022 and was unable to operate.

The 9am and 12 noon sailings from Cape Jervis and the 10.30am and1.30pm sailings from Penneshaw had to be cancelled.

"We have specialist technicians on their way to Cape Jervis arriving around 1030 - 1100 AM and once they are on site, we will have a better understanding of the estimated fix time," the SeaLink website states.

https://www.sealink.com.au/kangaroo-island/ferry-status/

"Thank you for your understanding whilst we attend to this issue. Please call our Sales Centre on 13 13 01 for assistance and please remain patient as our team are dealing with many calls at this time."

Thursday, August 4: Strong, near-gale-force winds from the northwest this week have played havoc with ferry schedules to Kangaroo Island.

SeaLink is also down to a single ferry, with Sealion 2000 undergoing its annual maintenance at Port Adelaide.

The ferry company is updating its schedule on new-look website: https://www.sealink.com.au/kangaroo-island/ferry-status/

As Wednesday morning, August 4, 2022, the ferry masters were going to make a determination regarding the 10.30am sailing from Penneshaw at the ferry terminal as to whether it will sail or not.

There will be no further services today unfortunately after that.

Northwest winds make entering the exiting the Cape Jervis ferry terminal difficult for the ferry masters.

The new state government ferry contract will see larger vessels and improvements to the ports, but SeaLink says weather will always be a factor.

See: SeaLink secures KI ferry contract for next 25 years

The Islander asked SeaLink for the figures regarding for cancelled sailings due to weather disruptions over the last three years.

"Given the enormous number of sailings that we operate each year, the percentage of cancelled sailings compared to the total number of sailings is miniscule," spokesperson Julie-Anne Briscoe said.

"For example this year so far, we have had only 0.021 per cent of departures cancelled due to weather.

"On average, over the last three years 2019/20 and 21, we have had less than 0.031 per cent of departures cancelled due to weather."

Meanwhile, the Sealion 2000 ferry is in the Australian Naval Infrastructure (ANI) shipyard at Port Adelaide, where it is undergoing its annual maintenance.

See: Second Kangaroo Island ferry going for annual maintenance

The other ferry, Spirit of Kangaroo Island, had it maintenance and repairs completed earlier this winter at Port Lincoln.

An overview of some of the work that is being done on Sealion is:

The Sealion 2000 was taken out of service on July 27, 2022 and is due back August 23, 2022.