River City Ferries Slashes Hull Cleaning Time with SPITWATER

River City Ferries, a key player in Brisbane’s public transport network, operates 32 vessels across 21 wharves along the Brisbane River under a 10-year contract with Brisbane City Council.

A core requirement of this contract is regular maintenance—inside and out.

The Problem

One of their biggest maintenance headaches for the team at River City Ferries? Marine growth.

Barnacles and algae build up on the hulls while vessels are in the water, leading to drag, reduced fuel efficiency, and, in some cases, damage to the hull itself. Their previous approach—manual scraping with hull scrapers—was slow, labour-intensive and only partially effective.

The Results

Swapping out their traditional hull scraping method for the SPITWATER HP201 delivered immediate results:

• Significantly reduced cleaning time on each vessel
• Hull scrapers are now only needed for spot removal, not full-scale scraping
• Extended the lifespan of antifouling treatments by avoiding over-scraping
• Improved vessel turnaround times, reducing downtime and improving service availability

For operations like River City Ferries, where performance, compliance and operational uptime are non-negotiable, SPITWATER delivers reliable, Australian-made cleaning solutions that cut downtime and keep your fleet moving.