Following the incident,the Chinese-built catamaran ferry was removed from regular passenger service and is now docked at the Balmain shipyard.
The latest incident takes thenumber of steering failures involving the Fairlight to nine since the government-owned vessel entered service in late 2021. It sparked calls for transport authorities to remove all three of the second-generation Emerald-class ferries from service.
The Fairlightlast suffered a steering failure while carrying passengers near the entrance to Sydney Harbour in November,less than two months after asimilar incident forced ferry operator Transdev to urgently pull the catamaran and two sister vessels from service.
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Labor transport spokeswoman Jo Haylen said the steering failures involving the Fairlight were a serious risk to passenger safety. “It is only thanks to good luck that a passenger or crew member on one of these ferries has not been seriously injured,or worse,” she said. “What is it going to take before action is taken?”
Transport Minister David Elliott called on Transdev to “step up their game” and fix any operating issues with the vessels. “I expect Transdev to be working around the clock to get the[Fairlight] safely back on the water. The commuters of Manly deserve reliable and consistent services,” he said.
Transport for NSW confirmed that the Fairlight was withdrawn from service on Sunday night due to an issue with a steering toggle.