The Sydney SuperCats 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
Transdev Sydney Ferries
Transdev Sydney Ferries, formerly Harbour City Ferries, is a subsidiary of Transdev Australasia, and is the operator of ferry services in the Sydney Ferries network since July 2012. It currently operates the ferry network under a contract unti ...
on
Sydney Harbour
Port Jackson, commonly known as Sydney Harbour, is a ria, natural harbour on the east coast of Australia, around which Sydney was built. It consists of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove River, Lane ...
.
History
In 2000/01, 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 ...
purchased four SuperCats. Initially eight were ordered, but the final four were cancelled. All were built by
Australian Defence Industries
Thales Australia (formerly Australian Defence Industries and ADI Limited) is a defence contractor based in Australia. It is a subsidiary of the French defence technology conglomerate Thales Group.
Thales Australia had been engaged in numerous ...
at
Garden Island
A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate both ...
.
They primarily operated on
Eastern Suburbs services and were on occasion used on the
Manly run.
Supercat makes rare appearance at Manly
''Manly Daily
The ''Manly Daily'' is an Australian community newspaper, covering the Northern Beaches region of Sydney.
The paper is one of News Corp Australia's community newspapers in New South Wales. It was delivered free to homes and businesses on Wedne ...
'' 19 July 2013 The upper deck was closed at night time.
In 2019 a new class of ferries known as the River-class were announced, with the new class to replace the SuperCats and HarbourCats. In December 2021 SuperCat ''Saint Mary Mackillop'' was retired from passenger service, after a few River-class ferries entered service from October 2021. On 31 August 2022 ''Susie O'Neill'' was retired with ''Louise Sauvage'' being the next to retire on 22 March 2024. On the 28th of April 2024 ''SuperCat 4'' was retired and left for Newcastle after being sold. 2 of the vessels are inactive awaiting buyers. ''Saint Mary Mackillop'' was sold to a party boat company in Geelong and renamed ''Hygeia IV'' where it now serves as a charter party boat.''Susie O'Neill'' was sold to ZigZag Whitsundays in November 2024 and renamed ''Super Flyer'' where it now serves as a day tour from Airlie Beach to Whitehaven Beach.
Vessels
See also
* List of Sydney Harbour ferries
Sydney Harbour's first ferry, ferries were sail and/or oar powered, but by the mid-19th century, paddle steamers were well established. Double-ended ferries became common as they did not require turning at terminating wharves in Sydney's busy bu ...
* Timeline of Sydney Harbour ferries
Sydney Harbour ferry services date back to the first years of Sydney's European settlement. Slow and sporadic boats ran along the Parramatta River from Sydney to Parramatta and served the agricultural settlements in between. By the mid-1830s, s ...
References
External links
*
Catamarans
Ferry transport in Sydney
Ships built in New South Wales
Ferry classes
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