GEORGE TOWN, Dec 30 — New engines can be fitted on Penang's existing ferries and engine spare parts can still be obtained for the ferries to keep it in service, said DAP's Lim Guan Eng.

The DAP secretary-general said the safety structures and features of the ferries can be improved and repaired so that the ferries need not be retired to make way for new water buses and vehicle transporters.

“As there are only three ferries operating, with one under repair, operational cost is not prohibitive. In fact, such cost is a necessary expense to preserve this unique cultural heritage,” he said in a statement today.

The former finance minister said the iconic ferries are subjected to examination and inspection by the relevant authorities before being approved for transport operation.

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“Is the Transport Ministry telling us that the iconic ferry service has been unsafe or unseaworthy all this time? Clearly, this is not so,” he said.

The former Penang chief minister said MCA leaders' claims that the iconic ferries had to be replaced to ensure the safety and well-being of its passengers were baseless and false.

He is confident that a majority of Penangites will want the iconic ferries to be maintained for historical and cultural heritage purposes.

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He accused Transport Minister Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong of terminating the ferry service for “ringgit cost” and not due to the ferry's safety or seaworthiness.

“Only the unprincipled opportunists or apologists for MCA trying to curry favour with the unelected Perikatan Nasional government will agree to blindly destroy this unique link to Penang’s past before the completion of the first Penang Bridge,” he said.

The Penang iconic ferries will be seeing the last two days of operations before being retired from service for good from January 1 onwards.

Only one ferry, Pulau Angsa, will continue to ply the Penang channel between the island and mainland until July 2022 when new vehicle transporters will start operations.

Ferry service operator, Penang Port Sdn Bhd, will be upgrading the ferry terminals on both the island and mainland to accommodate new water buses and vehicle transporters that are slotted to arrive in mid 2022.

In the interim period, Pulau Angsa will continue to ferry bicycles and motorcycles over the channel while two fast boats will ferry foot passengers to and from the Swettenham Pier Cruise Terminal.

There will no longer be any ferries to transport four-wheeled vehicles and the new vehicle transporters will only ferry two-wheeled vehicles.