Darwin – Bali Ferry Service to Launch?

UPDATE

Please note ednaxe’s comment below which has convinced me at least that there’s no truth to this.

Darwin may have a sea-link with Bali if the oddly-named “Timor Ferry” makes it from website to actuality. The single-page site claims two state of art catamarans – capable of carrying 750 passengers to ply the 950-odd nautical mile journey across the Indian Ocean – have already been acquired. The service will travel daily between ‘Cullen Bay Marina in Darwin and Bali Benoa Marina in South Bali’ with plans to launch the service ‘towards the end of 2008’. No word on whether it would accommodate vehicles.

This single website is only mention I can find of any planned service.

This seems a strange turn of events, even given that tourist numbers have been recovering recently (including tourists from Australia – despite the Australian government continuing travel warnings against travel to Indonesia, notwithstanding Indonesian protests).

I would be surprised if there was sufficient demand to justify a passenger ferry link or if such a link were competitive with direct flights from other Australian capitals (even if fares have become reasonably steep with only Jetstar ploughing the route as a budget carrier).

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