A while back I wrote about the history of the Queenscliff – Sorrento car ferry and the two very similar vessels that are used on the service – MV Queenscliff and MV Sorrento. So how do they get such a massive ferry into the berth and loaded up with around 80 car during a 20 minute turnaround?
Built to the same basic design, each vessel has an opening door at the bow and a hinged ramp at the stern, allowing cars to drive straight through the ferry without needing to turn around inside the car deck. With the two ferries crossing each other in the middle of the bay mid-voyage, while one ferry is loading cars at Queenscliff the other one will be doing the same over at Sorrento.
On the eastbound voyage cars drive aboard the ferry at Queenscliff via the bow door and leave via the stern ramp at Sorrento, with the reverse applying for the westbound voyage. So lets start at the Bellarine Peninsula end.
Ferries approach Queenscliff Harbour at speed, only slowing when they reach the ferry terminal at the tip of Larkin Parade.
On arrival at Queenscliff the ferry makes a straight in approach to the berth, lining up the bow door with the concrete ramp along the wharf.
At the berth a number of concrete mooring dolphins are used keeping the ferry in place during loading and unloading operations: three on the port side along the breakwater, with a single dolphin at the bow on the starboard side.
Once the ferry is tied up, the bow door can be opened and the cars driven off by their drivers.
The next load of cars can then be loaded – but this time they face the stern of the ferry.
At departure time the ferry reverses out of the berth, with the captain swinging the stern end around towards Swan Island using the bow thrusters.
After the bow is clear of the breakwater, the captain can then engage the main propellers and head on towards Sorrento.
On arrival at Sorrento the captain slows some distance away from the pier, as a number of smaller boats use the nearby boat ramp.
By the time the ferry has passed the pier, the captain is using the controls on the starboard side of the wheelhouse, in order to get a better view of the berth.
The next step is to swing the ferry around, and reverse in: six concrete mooring dolphins surround the berth so it is a tight fit, with only a metre or two clearance along each side.
The reverse parking move is over once the ferry touches the rear set of dolphins, after which the mooring ropes are tied up and the stern ramp lowered, allowing the cars to be unloaded.
The next load of cars can then be driven aboard, facing the opposite direction to the cars that just departed.
When departure time comes it is a speedy getaway: up goes the stern ramp, and the ferry powers straight out of the berth, making a 90 degree turn and then heading back across the bay to Queenscliff.
It looks like it is home time for me as well!
Loading the much larger Spirit of Tasmania ferry has always intrigued me – I’ll have to book a trip on it just to find out how they do it.