Five five days away, China stuck

TT LINE’s second new Bass Strait ro-pax Spirit of Tasmania V is expected in Geelong on Sunday, having departed Fremantle at 1345 hours Monday [27 April] after completing regulatory clearances and re-provisioning.

The 47,994 GT vessel arrived in Fremantle’s Inner Harbour last Thursday evening after completing a delivery voyage that began in the temporary lay-up port of Leith, Scotland on 7 March and continued via bunker and supplies stops at Gibraltar, the Canary Islands, Cape Town and Mauritius.

Spirit V is due to undergo berthing trails in Geelong before moving to Melbourne where sister Spirit of Tasmania IV is berthed at Nelson Pier, Williamstown, Melbourne undergoing hull-strengthening work. It will then shift to Hobart for final fit-out work and then function from 8-30 June as a venue for the Dark MoFo festival.

The ship will be located at the Macquarie 2 wharf and its vehicle decks 3 and 4 will be transformed into large scale art spaces with installations that will include robotics, light works, and immersive video pieces.

Meanwhile, also in Hobart, Incat Tasmania has confirmed that delivery of the world’s largest all-electric passenger/vehicle ferry to Argentine owners Buquebus has stalled – because the flo-flo heavylift ship booked to transport China Zorrilla is stuck in the Gulf of Hormuz.

China Zorrilla has sufficient battery power to enable the c. 90-minute crossing of its intended River Plate service, but not for a 28-day voyage to South America.

Incat managing director Craig Clifford told ABC Radio Hobart that Buquebus was monitoring the situation daily.

“It's just an unfortunate coincidence where the ship was at the time,” he said. “They've got commercial arrangements in place, but, as you can imagine, they're being frustrated at this stage, given the inaccessibility through that particular strait.

“Traditionally, we've just had a customer turn up when the ship's been ready, put hundreds of thousands of litres of diesel into the ship and sail away, but obviously that's not the case with this particular vessel,” Mr Clifford said.

Mr Clifford told the ABC one option was for diesel generators to be placed on board, to power the ship's electric motors.

“All sorts of options are being explored, including alternative heavy-lift ships, so we'll keep working with the customer in that regard,” he said.