The Jardine River ferry broke down again last week while transporting passengers to the Northern Peninsula Area. Photo: Facebook (Eion Kennedy).
The council responsible for the operation and maintenance of the derelict Jardine River ferry will not comment on the impact ongoing breakdowns are having on the community and Cape York tourism operators.
Following the vessel returning to the water following a month-long repair mandated by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) in May, the ferry has experienced at least three significant breakdowns in less than three weeks.
On 5 June, the hydraulic pump in the ferry’s gearbox failed, followed by an incident two days later that left it stuck in the middle of the river while transporting four vehicles and passengers across.
On Wednesday, Northern Peninsula Area Regional Council (NPARC) announced on social media the embattled ferry was again inoperable due to “additional mechanical challenges … requiring immediate repair”.
The ferry returned to normal operations on 12 June.
Cape York Weekly put five questions to the council about its fitness to continue the ongoing operation and maintenance of the only road link between the Northern Peninsula Area and the rest of Cape York, as well as whether it was taking the financial impact on local tourism operators seriously, however, it refused to provide a response.
“Council won’t be responding,” acting chief executive officer Lew Rojahn said in an email on 12 June.
“The ferry is operational again.”
On Friday morning, Mayor Robert Poi Poi posted a message on social media advising the council was “in the process of feasibility on both purchase of a river ferry upgrade or building a bridge”.
“[Before] anything can be built, or even planned, we need to ask – whose land is this, and who has the right to decide?” he asks in the post.
“Any meaningful development must begin with deep listening and proper consultation with First Nations communities.
“Our approach would aim for environmental and socioeconomic impact assessments before proposing to Traditional Owner groups.”
In 2021, the State Government completed a desktop business case for a bridge, however, it did not progress to a ground truthing stage due to a lack of support from Traditional Owners.
Cape York Camping Punsand Bay general manager Kahlia Colquhoun slammed NPARC’s attitude towards the ferry farce, saying the business had been unable to even get a council representative to talk on the phone.
“Overall, our business is struggling,” she said.
“We have not only been dealing with this ferry stuff for over eight weeks now, but we’re seeing a huge decline and concern of future bookings, and people changing their plans to not come to Cape York throughout this whole season,” she said.
“Council’s not answering their phones and they’re not doing regular updates to the community or the travellers; I have office staff that are getting absolutely slammed by customers and guests travelling up here, because there’s just so much uncertainty and there’s so little information.
“They’re (NPARC) downplaying the severity of this situation; whether they don’t understand or they don’t care, I’m not really sure, but it makes it really hard for us when we’re copping the flack of the decisions made by the council.”
Ms Colquhoun estimated the business’ sales “were down about 23 per cent” for the start of the 2025 tourist season, with another NPA operator, who asked not to be named, reporting an even greater decline on the back of ferry reliability concerns.
“I’ve stopped looking at the figures over the last few weeks, but we were at least 50 per cent down on where we’d usually be this time of year,” they said.
“The ferry’s crippling us and the council doesn’t give a stuff; we’ve tried to get someone in NPARC to tell us what’s happening, but the only way to find out seems to be Facebook.”
Despite the numerous breakdowns since the ferry was returned to operation on 25 May and the mandatory reporting of issues, the maritime watchdog said no new reports had been logged.
“AMSA is aware of a mechanical failure that is affecting the Jardine River ferry,” an AMSA spokesperson said on 11 June.
“No other mechanical failures with the ferry have been reported since May 2025.
“AMSA previously accepted a report on the vessel’s hull repairs in May 2025 as evidence that the necessary repairs were completed to the required standard.”
What we asked NPARC
1. How many breakdowns has the ferry experienced since it was returned to operation in late May?
2. Does the council understand the outrage of business operators and community members about the reliability of the ferry, especially in the middle of peak tourist season?
3. How can NPA business operators and the community have any faith that there aren’t more breakdowns to follow this dry season?
4. Does the council still believe it is the best entity to operate and maintain the ferry and campground facilities?
5. Does Mayor Robert Poi Poi still support a bridge replacing the ferry, as he told Cape York Weekly following last year’s local government elections, and has continued to tell local stakeholders on a one-on-one basis?
Northern Peninsula Area Regional Council has refused to answer questions about the impact ongoing maintenance issues with the Jardine River ferry is having on tourism operators and the community. Photo: Northern Peninsula Area Regional Council.
