page_title: Ferries in Wellington
section_title: Vessels
hierarchical_section_title: Ferries in Wellington / Vessels
caption_attribution_description: English: s s Cobar about to drop passengers at an Eastbourne wharf
context_page_description: Ferries within Wellington's harbour carry commuters and tourists on Wellington Harbour and form a part of the Wellington public transport system. They operate between central Wellington, Days Bay, Seatoun, and Matiu/Somes Island. Until 2016, services also ran to Petone on weekends. Historically they also served Lowry Bay and Rona Bay—the ferries belonged to the Eastbourne Borough Council from 1913 to 1950—and briefly, until 1913, Miramar and Karaka Bay. The development of road connections around the harbour's edge, particularly once they were paved during the 1920s, reduced the importance of ferries to the city's transport network, but regular services still run.
  Some of the most notable vessels were the SS Cobar and SS Duchess. Cobar was the longest serving, 42 years from 1906 to 1948 when all services ended because Cobar was badly damaged by fire. Duchess was specially built for Port Nicholson in 1897 but licensed to carry 1,029 against Cobar's 745 passengers she had to be first to go when commuters switched to the buses in the 1920s. She was laid up by the council in 1929 and sold in 1930.
context_section_description: These vessels also carried Wellington Harbour Board's pilots and towed large vessels within the harbour.
caption: SS Cobar moves alongside Day's Bay wharf before her 1910 collision.
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