TASMANIANS, via government-owned TT Line, will pay an estimated $1.2 million a month to ‘warehouse’ ro-paxes Spirit of Tasmania IV and V in Leith, Scotland while they await the delayed completion of their East Devonport terminal.
The state Opposition has extrapolated figures from TT Line’s contributions to the Gemell Report into short-term options for the Bass Strait ferries to conclude the lay-up bill will reach at least $24.3 million – and that’s if the ‘optimistic’ completion date of October 2026 is reached.
Labor leader Dean Winter said the Rockliff Government is “hiding” the Spirits overseas to avoid the embarrassment of having them idle in Tasmanian waters: “It makes absolutely no sense, unless the Liberals’ only goal is to keep them out of sight from Tasmanian taxpayers who are paying for their complete incompetence.
“The Premier claimed he would increase double sailings, but TT-Line haven’t even come close to maxing out the number of sailings available this summer. Instead of spending millions to keep the ships overseas, Premier Rockliff should focus on working the existing ships as hard as he can …”
However, Minister for Transport, Eric Abetz said the government was delivering extra sailings on the current Spirits over the peak season, as promised.
“Eight extra sailings have been added to the schedule over January, February, April, and May 2025, and this is on top of the 20 additional sailings added in April, September and October 2025.
“As a result of the additional sailings, plus TT-Line’s work to rearrange its vehicle decks to optimise the availability of high space from January to April 2025, more than 300 vehicles have been cleared from the waitlist.
“We know there is demand for people travelling with caravans and high vehicles, and these actions are helping to boost patronage and increase capacity for freight.
“Spirit of Tasmania advises that, by early next week, waitlist bookings will drop to below 100, which is fantastic for our tourism sector and our economy.”
