GEORGE TOWN, July 24 — Penang Port Commission (PPC) chairman Datuk Yeoh Soon Hin said a decision has been made to dispose of the state's iconic ferries.
He said PPC had received several offers from companies to buy or rent the iconic ferries but the main issue was the overall high costs and inappropriate locations to dock the ferries.
“Therefore, PPC has decided to dispose of the iconic ferries,” he said in a statement issued today following the sinking of one of the iconic ferries, named Pulau Kapas, at the Sultan Abdul Halim Terminal in Butterworth.
Yeoh said PPC had leased out the iconic ferries including Pulau Kapas in 2021 to several eligible companies to turn the ferries into tourism products.
“However, the intention to turn Pulau Kapas into a floating restaurant could not materialise as there was non-compliance of the lease conditions by the company that leased it and the lease was terminated in February 2023,” he said.
Pulau Kapas was returned to PPC by Prasarana Malaysia Berhad on January 1, 2021.
Yeoh said the ferry was built in 1981 and it stopped operations on May 3, 2020 and was then docked at the Sultan Abdul Halim Terminal.
He said Pulau Kapas, which was reported to be sinking at about 3.26am today, was leaking and could not be repaired.
“Early investigations revealed that only half of the ferry had sunk due to the low tide at the time,” he said.
He said PPC had taken immediate action to secure the ferry with mooring lines and installed an iol boom to prevent any oil spill from the engine room.
Penang’s iconic car-carrying ferries were retired on January 1st of 2021 while the one ferry that plied the Penang channel to carry motorcycles and bicycles stopped last year.
