The Sydney Harbour Transport Board was a statutory of the Government of New South Wales responsible for the provision of ferry services on Sydney Harbour from July 1951 until November 1974.
[1][2] After investigating the possibility of using statutory powers to compulsorily acquire the business without paying compensation, the government agreed to purchase the business with 15 ferries from 1 July 1951.
Pursuant to the Sydney Harbour Transport Act 1951 (NSW), the Sydney Harbour Transport Board (SHTB) was established.
[3] As the board did not have any experience of ferry management, day-to-day running was contracted out to the Port Jackson & Manly Steamship Company.
This single deck ferry which the SHTB intended would be the first of many had no outside seating and was much derided.