In 1989, the business was founded with the purchase of the
Kangaroo Island SeaLink business. In 2004, it purchased
Subritzky Ferries in
Auckland, before their sale in 2011. In 2011, the group purchased
Captain Cook Cruises (including the previously taken over
Matilda Cruises),
Murray River Cruises and
Sunferries Townsville. SeaLink has also purchased specialist travel companies, managing the
Adelaide Central bus station, operating the SkyLink
Adelaide Airport Shuttle Service and a coach operation. In September 2013, SeaLink began a ferry operation in
Darwin. In October 2013, SeaLink was floated on the
Australian Securities Exchange. In November 2015, SeaLink acquired
Transit Systems marine operations, which includes: •
Bay Islands Transit ferry operation in
Brisbane •
Gladstone Ferries •
Stradbroke Ferries operation in Brisbane In February 2016, the
Captain Cook Cruises Western Australia business was purchased. In October 2019, the company announced the acquisition of the remaining business of
Transit Systems for $635 million. As part of the transaction, Sealink's CEO, Jeff Ellison, stepped down, to be replaced by Transit Systems' CEO, Clint Feuerherdt, who took a 2.6% shareholding of the enlarged SeaLink. Transit System's co-founder and chairman Neil Smith joined the SeaLink Board of Directors as a non-executive director and also took up 15.3% shareholding of the company. The deal was completed in January 2020. On 4 November 2020,
RiverCity Ferries took over the operation of
Brisbane City Council's CityCat, CityHopper and Cross River Ferry networks from
Transdev Brisbane Ferries. In September 2021, SeaLink Travel Group and the
RATP Group announced their respective
London bus operations (including
London United,
London Sovereign and
Tower Transit's
Westbourne Park bus garage) would merge into a new joint venture called
RATP Dev Transit London, with RATP Dev holding 87.5% and Tower Transit holding 12.5%. The incorporation of the joint venture was finalised on 11 December 2021. Tower Transit's Lea Interchange garage, located in East London, was not part of the joint venture and remained unaffected In November 2021, SeaLink Travel Group was rebranded Kelsian Group. "Kelsian" is an
anagram of "SeaLink". In September 2022, the Kelsian Group acquired the operations of the
HCT Group's
Channel Islands-based
LibertyBus and buses.gg operations, located on the islands of
Jersey and
Guernsey respectively. The contract to provide the bus network in Guernsey expired in March 2025 with
Stagecoach taking over services from April 2025. In January 2023,
Perth based
Horizons West was purchased with 138 vehicles. In September 2023, Kelsian sold its shareholding in RATP Dev Transit London to RATP Dev. Also in 2023, Kelsian acquired American company
All Aboard America! In February 2026 the Captain Cook Cruises and SeaLink businesses were sold to
Journey Beyond. ==Operations==