Sydney has ordered 10 new ferries featuring a viewing deck – but they can’t clear some of the city's bridges.

Sydney officials have acknowledged that the city's new ferries don’t fit under several bridges, forcing passengers on the viewing deck to either leave the area or duck and cover.

Built in Singapore and Indonesia, these ferries will serve Sydney Harbour later this year, offering stunning views from the top deck – but passengers will have to take cover twice during their ride as the ferries barely fit under two bridges along the Parramatta River.

A Transport for New South Wales (NSW) representative told Dinogo that while passengers can enjoy the upper deck, they’ll need to move downstairs when passing under the Camellia Railway and Gasworks Bridges.

The new River Class ferries, operated by Transdev, will be part of Sydney’s daily fleet, traveling the harbor and surrounding areas.

The limited clearance has become a point of criticism from opposition politicians, who have slammed New South Wales transport minister Andrew Constance for purchasing foreign-made ferries without customizing their designs for the city.

Shadow transport minister Chris Minns told Dinogo affiliate 9News, 'The government is admitting that commuters will either need to jump off the upper deck or duck to avoid hitting a bridge. They’ve been repeatedly told to build these ferries domestically, yet they chose to import them and this is the result.'

The state’s Labor party has called this fiasco a clear example of why the ferries should have been manufactured in Australia.

Graeme Taylor, a representative from the Action for Public Transport campaign group, told 9News, 'They've ordered the wrong type of vessels, which should be used elsewhere on the harbor. These ferries simply aren’t suitable for the Parramatta River.'

The city’s transport department acknowledged the issue of fitting tall ferries under the two bridges but proceeded with the order for the new ferries regardless.

'The clearance requirements of the Camellia Railway Bridge and Gasworks Bridge have always been considered in the ferry design process,' a spokesperson from Transport for NSW explained.

They further stated that no two-deck ferry design would be able to clear the two bridges in question, and that the stretch of the Parramatta River in question is particularly challenging for vessels.

This news follows a report from 9News just days ago revealing that some ferries in the same fleet were found to contain asbestos.

Sydney Harbour boat tours are a favorite among tourists, although the city's typical surge of visitors has been significantly reduced due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic in recent months.