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Posted by Dale Crisp
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24 Aug, 2026
SEAROAD Shipping’s new Devonport-Melbourne vessel, Searoad I, late last week completed four days of seat trials in the Skagerrak and Kattegat after virtual completion by Germany’s Flensburger Shipyard.
As Flensburger doesn’t have its own drydock the 210 metre x 29.3 metre, dual-fuel LNG-powered ro-ro has now relocated to nearby Fayard at Munkebo, Denmark, on the southeastern side of Odense Fjord, for final hull preparations.
Searoad I has a wheeled cargo capacity of 4,227 lane metres and is designed to carry heavy cargoes up to 100 tonnes, containers via a cassette system, road trailers, and other freight including over dimensional units and motor vehicles.
SeaRoad’s latest has had a chequered building history after the original shipbuilding company FSG collapsed – which also impacted TT Line’s plans to construct its new ro-paxes at the facility. But the yard has been revived under new ownership and SeaRoad executive chairman Chas Kelly has declared his satisfaction with the builder.
Searoad I was launched and officially named on 7 November 2025 by the vessel’s godmother Silvana Guarino, wife of chief operating officer, Pat Guarino. and is expected to be delivered this quarter, before embarking on the journey to Tasmania to enter overnight service later this year.
“The sea trials are an important part of the journey, putting the vessel's performance, systems and capabilities through their paces ahead of delivery to Australia,” the company said in a social media post.
“Searoad I represents a significant investment in the future of Bass Strait freight and, importantly, Tasmanian communities.”
SeaRoad Shipping already operates two Flensburg products, its own Searoad Mersey II (also dual-fuel LNG powered) and the chartered Liekut. The new vessel is significantly larger than the former and wider and with greater lanemetre capacity than the latter.
