Urgent work on the Spirit of Kangaroo Island ferry is making it difficult for Kangaroo Islanders and tourists to take vehicles to and from the island.

The Sealink booking system shows no available berths for vehicles on several days this week.

Sealink posted a message to customers saying,”Each year, our vessels are removed from the water into dry dock to undergo scheduled general maintenance and servicing, plus any required repairs.”

“This is part of our commitment to ongoing safety and ensures we are best placed to deliver a reliable service year-round.

“We usually do this in winter and low peak periods to reduce the impact on service capacity – however, this year, the Spirit of Kangaroo Island ferry (SPOKI) needs be taken out of service earlier due to urgent work required.

“We will also take this opportunity to complete the regular yearly maintenance. This will be conducted in Port Lincoln and we anticipate it will be out of water and out of service for about four weeks.

“This has resulted in increased demand on ferry services in the short term, for which we sincerely apologise. We have done our best to keep SPOKI in service during peak holiday seasons and over long weekends, but the vessel must now be docked for repairs.

“We have added as much capacity as possible over the course of each day, utilising our Sealion 2000 ferry, with extra earlier and later services being added, and we encourage you to consider travelling at those times if your preferred departure time is not available.

“With regards to travelling to or from Kangaroo Island urgently, we acknowledge that vehicle deck space is the primary issue. We would like to remind travellers that there is always plenty of passenger spaces available and that we also offer a connecting bus service each morning and evening to and from Adelaide, and to and from Kingscote.

“We expect SPOKI to return to service by early June and we will keep you posted on the progress.

“We appreciate your understanding and ask that you continue to respect our team members as we do our best with the circumstances at hand.”