ON 19 July, Tasmanian Governor Barbara Baker cut the ribbon to break a bottle of Tasmanian sparkling wine on the second ship for TT-Line followed by opening the floodgates to float out Spirit of Tasmania V at the Rauma Marine Constructions (RMC) shipyard on Finland’s west coast.
According to project leader for both vessels Johanna Kaijo, Spirit of Tasmania V will be delivered next spring while sister Spirit of Tasmania lV will be handed over next month (in August). The original contract was signed in April 2021, but delays were incurred by covid restrictions and cases at the yard. Spirit of Tasmania IV successfully completed its first sea trial 25 June.
The identical twins specifications are 48,000gt, 212m long, 31m beam with a 7m draught and carry 1800 passengers with 4098 lane meters for rolling cargo. Comparative figures for TT-Line’s current vessels Spirit of Tasmania I and II are 1400 and 1464 lanemetres.
The larger capacities and better on-board facilities were stressed in the speech by Governor Baker while TT-Line chairman Mike Grainger and RMC CEO Mika Nieminen both pointed out that the newbuildings were specifically designed for the Bass Strait service.
In addition, both new ships will use LNG as the main fuel in the four Wärtsilä 9L46 DF main engines as well as the three Wärtilä 20DF auxilliary units. LNG is considered to be the most environmentally friendly fossil fuel with marine diesel oil as the alternative, which also acts as combustion catalyst. Finland’s Wärtsilä will also supply two LNGPac fuel storage, supply and control systems.
Each main engine has an output of 10.35MW each or a potential maximum of 41.4MW to the twin variable pitch propellers to comfortably maintain the 26-knot service speed to meet the overnight timetable.
Passengers can choose their accommodation from 301 cabins, 118 standard recliners or 47 business recliners. Details of the on-board facilities will be revealed after the handover of Spirit of Tasmania lV, but under a media blanket.
For shipbuilder RMC and Finland itself this contract has been held up as a landmark between the two countries being one of the biggest trade deals ever. The contract value is also under wraps, but a reference is a previous ferry delivered by RMC last year to Estonia’s Tallink. The fast ferry MyStar has similar basic specifications, but designed for the two-hour service between Helsinki and Tallinn having greater passenger capacity but just 47 cabins.
Its cost of €250m ($417 million) gives some idea that the two together will have a price tag of around $800 million. So why did TT-Line choose the shipyard furthest from Australia?
TT-Line CEO Bernard Dwyer had a quick response: “In a word quality. The two vessels we have now (Spirit of Tasmania I and II) have been with us since 2002. They were built here in Finland, have Wärtsilä engines and have been very reliable.”
Both were built in Turku, but the yards were under the same owner then. For RMC as Nieminen likes to say, “We have now built ferries for the northernmost and southernmost commercial ferry routes in the world! The other being Aurora Botnia that crosses between the nothern Finnish port of Vaasa to the Swedish city of Umeå.”
That ship claims to be the world’s most sustainable ferry using a variety of technological innovations, engines, batteries and biofuel.
