The Herald reports a last minute reprieve for the Coromandel ferry service.
A ferry service from Auckland to Coromandel is to continue as authorities wanting to keep the business afloat look at throwing it a lifeline.
Ferry operator Discovery 360, which runs a service between Auckland and Coromandel via Waiheke, Ponui, Rotoroa and Pakatoa Islands, five times a week, had planned to stop sailings tomorrow.
Discovery 360 said it had lost money since it started the service three years ago and requests for funding assistance from Environment Waikato had been unsuccessful.
About 24,000 passengers used the service on one-way trips over the past 12 months but a spokeswoman said it would need an extra 50 passengers a week to remain viable. “And that’s not likely to happen on a cold August day,” she said.
But after talks yesterday with the Thames Coromandel District Council, NZ Transport Agency and Environment Waikato, the ferry service said it would continue on a month-by-month basis.
Can’t say I’ve seen this service widely advertised in Auckland, but the timetable is here. From memory I think there used to be a car ferry as well. I would have thought that this would be a great alternative to the Kopu Bridge.
