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Posted by Dale Crisp
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29 January, 2026
TT LINE’s controversial new East Devonport Spirit of Tasmania terminal, which has attracted criticism over cost overruns and delays, has reached a major milestone with the arrival from China of the main gantry and linkspan.
Fabrication of the gantry began in May 2025 and it has since been assembled, disassembled, painted and loaded aboard BBC Chartering’s heavy-lift MPP BBC Coral, which left Chiangsu on 14 January and arrived in Devonport yesterday evening [28 January].
The 153-metre, 14,250 DWT, 2012-built BBC Coral is fitted with 2 x 400t cranes, combinable to lift 800 tonnes, and these will be used to discharge the gantry components at No.3 berth, a process expected to take 7-10 days. The largest single component, the triple-deck linkspan, weighs 320 tonnes.
TT Line says once fully assembled, the gantry will weigh an impressive 740 tonnes and stand nearly 50 metres high - a remarkable addition to Devonport’s port infrastructure.
After an initial construction contract, originally estimated at $90 million, was discontinued, TT Line awarded a new contract to the Spirit Partners consortium, headed by BMD and partner Fitzgerald Constructions, along with locally based partners BridgePro Engineering, Gradco, and Vos Constructions.
The project is now expected to cost at least $390 million and is due for completion this October, when the new ro-paxes Spirit of Tasmania IV and V will finally be able to enter Bass Strait service.
The total project scope includes roadworks, bulk earthworks, pavements, asphalting and concrete paving;
Installing fire, water, communication, stormwater and sewer lines, and electrical lines; Demolishing existing structures and constructing six buildings to support terminal operations; Drilling 27 marine piles with a large-scale down-the-hole hammer piling methodology based on barge A.M.S. Perth; Constructing a multilevel loading ramp, fendering dolphin structures (to guide vessels as they berth) and the articulated linkspan including steel framed gantry and bridges to connect vessels to the shore, allowing vehicles and passengers to board and disembark simultaneously on three levels.
BBC Coral’s arrival with the crucial infrastructure coincides with TasPorts’ announcement of an extensive maintenance dredging program for the Mersey River and port entrance (see separate story).
