The Bass Strait island is serviced by the SeaRoad Mersey on a weekly basis.

In less than a year, the Mersey will be replaced with a larger ship that is too big to dock at the existing port in Grassy, on the island's east coast, and will hence bypass King Island on its route between Melbourne and Tasmania.

The uncertainty over the future of the shipping service is cause for concern for all King Island residents who rely on it for the supply of basic goods.

But exporters are particularly worried.

Along with dairy and cattle, kelp is a King Island export, shipped from the island on the Mersey on Sundays.

King Island Kelp Industries general manager John Hiscock said a reliable, regular shipping service was a must for the industry.

"If our product stays here we don't get paid," he said.

"We ship it from here to Melbourne - about 80 per cent of it we export from Melbourne to Europe."

Mr Hiscock said his customers have started inquiring about the potential impact.

"They're starting to ask the question, 'What's going to happen?' and of course none of us really know what's going to happen at the moment," he said.

"I don't think we'll be left without a ship but what sort of service we're getting is unknown."

Wharf upgrade the preferred long-term solution

The King Island Council believe a wharf upgrade is the preferred long-term option.

Deputy Mayor Jim Cooper said the development had been costed at up to $75 million.

"We maintain that that cost needs to be amortised over 40 or 50 years," he said.

"It would give the island long-term security for shipping."

Failing that, the search is on for smaller ships to fill the gap, which would be a costly option according to Mr Cooper.

"We've crunched a lot of numbers on it and the figures coming back don't look very pretty," he said.

The Tasmanian Government has been working on a solution with the King Island Shipping Group, which is made up of businesses and individuals that regularly use the shipping service.

Group chairman Jarrod Reeman said by mid-November there would be some indication of who was interested in providing a service.

"[We're] extremely confident that we'll find a solution, extremely confident we will have a proposal by the end of November."

Details of expressions of interest are expected to be released this week.

ViraHaber.com