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Sydney Ferries is the public transport ferry service on Sydney Harbour and the Parramatta River in Sydney, Australia.Since July 2012 the provision of services has been contracted out to Harbour City Ferries. In 2013/14, 15.9 million passenger journeys were made on the network.[1]Sydney Ferries operates services on seven routes radiating from Circular Quay to:[2]Balmain Shipyard in Mort Bay was established about 1890 by Balmain Ferry Company as a depot, ferry wharf and ferry coaling wharf but through amalgamations and government takeovers, has become the present Sydney Ferries’ Maintenance Facility and Training base and is leased to Harbour City Ferries.Sydney Ferries can trace its roots as far back as the arrival of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove where in 1789, the first ferry service was established from the Cove to the farming settlement of Parramatta. The first ferry, officially named the Rose Hill Packet (otherwise known as 'The Lump'), was crafted by convicts and powered by sails and oars. Trips inland from Sydney Cove to Parramatta typically took up to one week to complete. As time progressed, a series of rowboat ferrymen set up small operations to transport people from either side of Sydney Harbour.In 1861, the North Shore Ferry Company was established which operated the very first commercial ferry service across Sydney Harbour.[3]In 1899, ferry services were integrated into Sydney Ferries Limited, which became the world's largest ferry operator by fleet size. After the Sydney Harbour Bridge opened in March 1932, ferry patronage dropped almost overnight, decreasing from 30 to 13 million passengers per year.In 1951, the NSW Government intervened in response to the financial difficulty of the operator and agreed to take over Sydney Ferries Limited. From this time, services were operated by a number of government organisations, including the Public Transport Commission (1972-1980), Urban Transit Authority (1980-1989), State Transit Authority (1989-2004) and Sydney Ferries Corporation (2004-2012).On 3 April 2007 the Premier of New South Wales Morris Iemma appointed Bret Walker, a Senior Counsel, to undertake a commission of inquiry into Sydney Ferries' operations.[4] Submissions to Walker's inquiry were critical of many aspects of the operation of Sydney Ferries from fare levels and infrequent services to the design of gangways and the choice of, potentially unsafe, livery colours for some vessels.[5] Walker's report,[6] delivered in November 2007,[7] was highly critical of the Ferries management, industrial relations and government interference. Walker made several major recommendations including the urgent replacement of the entire ageing fleet of vessels and handing day-to-day operations over to a private sector operator whilst the NSW government retained the fleet and other assets, in public ownership.[8]In 2008, the NSW Government called for private sector bids to provide ferry services under a services contract,[9] however the government later decided to keep Sydney Ferries as a state owned and operated entity. On 1 January 2009, Sydney Ferries became a NSW Government agency.In February 2009, a private operator took over the high speed jet cat service to Manly.[8][10] In April 2010, the NSW Government decided the service contract would remain with the Sydney Ferry Corporation.[9]In 2011, following a change in State Government, it was decided to contract out the operation of Sydney Ferries to the private sector, with the government retaining ownership of both the Balmain Maintenance Facility and the ferry fleet.On 28 July 2012, Harbour City Ferries, a 50/50 joint venture between Transdev Australasia and Transfield Services, began operating the services of Sydney Ferries under a seven year contract.[11][12][13]On 12 May 2004 the Louise Sauvage crashed into a wharf at Rose Bay. A small number of minor injuries resulted from the accident, which was blamed on a steering mechanism fault.[14]In January 2007, one man died after a Sydney RiverCat, the Dawn Fraser, collided with a dinghy.[15][16]In March 2007, a Sydney Ferries vessel crashed into a whale-watching ship before hitting Pyrmont Bridge in Darling Harbour.On Wednesday, 28 March 2007, the Sydney Ferries HarbourCat Pam Burridge collided with a private vessel, the Merinda beneath the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Four people, including a fourteen-year-old girl, were killed in the accident. The Office of Transport Safety Investigations found that the Merinda was not exhibiting the required navigation lights and had not maintained a proper look-out.[17] The summary of the Coroner’s Report noted "It was the error made in failing to illuminate the navigation lights [on the private vessel Merinda] that allowed the other causal factors to align to create a cascading causal effect resulting in the collision.[18] Australian skating champion Sean Carlow was among the survivors of the accident. His mother and coach, former Australian Olympic competitor Liz Cain, had a leg amputated. One of the dead was a skating judge who had officiated at the 2007 World Figure Skating Championships the previous week.[19][20]On 23 November 2008, at 17:15 the Lady Northcott ran into the stern of Friendship while the former was berthing behind the latter at Circular Quay. No one was on board the Friendship, and no passengers were injured on the Lady Northcott.On 6 April 2009 the Lady Northcott crashed into rocks after it overshot Taronga Zoo wharf. No one was injured in the accident, and it was blamed on driver error.[21]On 11 October 2010 at 08:47 the HarbourCat ferry Anne Sergeant ran into the Kirribilli Jeffrey Street Wharf. One passenger was taken to hospital with some other passengers receiving minor injuries.[22]On 7 November 2010, at approximately 16:30, a speedboat crashed into the Fantasea Spirit (owned and operated by Palm Beach Ferries, operating for Sydney Ferries) 100m from Meadowbank wharf on the Parramatta River, injuring six people. The skipper of the speedboat, a 49-year-old Dundas man, was charged with culpably navigating in manner dangerous causing grievous bodily harm (GBH) and operate recreational vessel negligently causing death or GBH.[23]In November 2014, the government announced six new ferries will be ordered with the first to enter service in 2016.[26][27]Freshwater class ferryNarrabeenFirst Fleet class ferryScarboroughLady class ferryLady NorthcottRiverCat class ferryNicole LivingstoneSuperCat class ferrySaint Mary MacKillopCharter vesselFantasea SensationRiverCat class ferryEvonne Goolagong Media related to Sydney Ferries at Wikimedia Commons