The Sydney JetCats were a class of

catamaran A catamaran () (informally, a "cat") is a watercraft with two parallel hull (watercraft), hulls of equal size. The wide distance between a catamaran's hulls imparts stability through resistance to rolling and overturning; no ballast is requi ...

s operated by the

State Transit Authority The State Transit Authority of New South Wales, also referred to as State Transit, was an agency of the Government of New South Wales operating bus services in Sydney. Superseding the Urban Transit Authority in 1989, it was also responsible for ...

and

Sydney Ferries Sydney Ferries is the public transport ferry network serving the city of Sydney, New South Wales. Services operate on Port Jackson, Sydney Harbour and the connecting Parramatta River. The network is controlled by the New South Wales Government ...

on the Manly service.

History

Three JetCats were delivered in 1990/91 to replace the remaining four

Sydney hydrofoils The Sydney hydrofoils were a series of hydrofoils operated by Port Jackson & Manly Steamship Company and its successors on the Manly ferry services, ferry service from Circular Quay to Manly. The hydrofoils covered the journey from Circular Qua ...

on the Manly service. The 268-seat vessels were built by NQEA,

Cairns Cairns (; ) is a city in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. In the , Cairns had a population of 153,181 people. The city was founded in 1876 and named after William Cairns, Sir W ...

to an Incat Crowther design. In December 2008, the

State Government A state government is the government that controls a subdivision of a country in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonom ...

announced the JetCat service would cease and called for tenders to operate the service on a commercial basis. The last JetCat service operated on 31 December 2008. JetCat patronage had dropped from 1,453,000 passengers per annum in 1995/96 to 393,506 between July and December 2008, while ferry patronage on the route rose from 3.7 million to 6.0 million (full 08/09 year) in the same period. However this referenced source clearly reveals the change in Jetcat patronage can be explained by the reduction in the number of timetabled Jetcat services being operated from typically 256 return trips per week in 1995/96, down to 116 per week in 2008 (both including ferry replacement trips). The JetCats were sold to a broker, who resold them for three times the price. Manly Fast Ferry commenced operating the service on 10 February 2009.Jet Cat Withdrawal and Manly Fast Ferry Commencement
NSW Ministry of Transport

Vessels

Ex-Manly JetCat "Sea Eagle" was destroyed by fire in 2019 at her berth, along with another vessel "Forward" - both vessels were "utility boats" serving offshore platforms. Arson is suspected.

References

{{Sydneyferries, state=collapsed Catamarans Ferry classes Ferry transport in Sydney Ships built in Queensland