Date set for new KI ferry service launch after year-long delay
The boss of the company that operates Kangaroo Island’s ferry services has set a long-awaited date for when its new ships will sail, as the business posts its financials.
SeaLink’s two new vessels ferrying people to and from Kangaroo Island will likely set sail in early to mid-November after significant delays in the delivery of the new people movers from Indonesia.
SeaLink owner – SA-based transport giant Kelsian – will shut down services for three days to complete infrastructure works at the ferry ports on October 20.
Once the upgrades are completed, the new vessels will be able to operate on the infrastructure, Kelsian CEO Graeme Legh saying that the “go-live of the two new vessels fully in service will occur a couple of weeks after the 20th of October”.
“Sometime in early- or mid-November,” Legh said.
The new services were meant to commence early last year but the first of two ships – called Wanggami – only reached Port Adelaide in April this year.
Wanggami was formally christened on July 30, and media and VIP guests were given a look inside the larger vessel, which includes upgraded passenger lounges, a café, a sundeck and a dedicated pet area.
The second ship, called Ruwi, was delayed due to an “incident” during the final testing of the vessel in Indonesia.
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It led to community furore, including from Transport Minister Joe Szackacs, who told ABC Radio he was “very concerned” and “angry” about the delays and a claimed lack of communication from Kelsian.
Legh today told InDaily that the Minister’s comments were fair, saying “we can always do better”.
“If the community have let the Minister know that they feel they haven’t been kept up to date and well-communicated to about how we’re progressing… I think that criticism is fair,” he said.
“We’ll learn from it and we’ll make sure we do better next time.
“I don’t want to undersell how important this service is for SeaLink and we are fully committed to make sure not only that we continue to operate a reliable service while we await for the new vessel to arrive, but to ensure that once the new vessels go in we are operating an absolutely world-class ferry service to the residents and community of KI hopefully for the next 25 years.”
‘Very pleasing’ financial year for Kelsian
The news comes as Kelsian – one of the state’s top 20 companies according to InDaily’s South Australian Business Index and the operator of Adelaide’s metropolitan bus services – unveils its financial results for the 2026 financial year.
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The group – which operates a global network of bus transportation services – saw profits rise by 16.6 per cent to $63.5 million.
Revenue also rose by 8.8 per cent to $2.4 billion, while investors will get a dividend of 18 cents per share for the year – up from 17.5 cents per share the year prior.
Speaking to InDaily this morning, Legh said the results were “very pleasing”.
“Especially given some of the external headwinds that we faced over the last quarter,” he said.
“The last three months of the financial year were more difficult for more of our discretionary tourism-type services.
“There are some further headwinds for our marine and tourism operation, from the dual impact of incurring higher fuel prices to operate our services, but more importantly around consumer sentiment and demand for discretionary services like holidays and trips to islands.
“It is a more difficult environment as we see here today than it was 12 months ago.”
In its financial results, the company noted it was entering the new financial year with “strong operational momentum, a strengthened balance sheet and a substantial pipeline of organic and in-organic growth opportunities”.
Legh said there was a “structural opportunity” on its way for Kelsian, with a major opportunity opening up in the United Kingdom where bus services were set to transition to larger operators running buses, rather than individual bus owners, over the next 12 months.
“The whole market is going through a process of changing to a market similar to Australia… that’s how we’ve been successful in growing our business in Australia over the last 30-odd years,” he said.
“We’ve got a lot of expertise to take advantage of that structural shift that’s happening in the UK.
“We see [the change] as a big growth opportunity for us moving forward.”
Shares in Kelsian are up 2.72 per cent in early trade.
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