THE SECOND vessel in TT Line’s troubled Bass Strait ferry fleet renewal, Spirit of Tasmania V, sailed from Rauma Shipyard, Finland in yesterday (1030 hrs 30 October local time) bound for Leith, Scotland, where it will lay-up until departing next May for Tasmania and final fit-out.
In the latest development in a saga of mismanagement, it was revealed this week in a Tasmanian Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee hearing that TT Line had sent the wrong specifications for fenders to TasPorts for its construction of East Devonport Berth 3 in 2023. The stuff-up has forced TT Line to allocate $9 million for berth modifications and strengthening of the hulls of both Spirit IV and V.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, the spirit around the Spirits is a bit more upbeat if “wistful” at the shipbuilder, Rauma Marine Construction, on Finland’s west coast.
“The mood is a bit wistful now that the ship is leaving Rauma,” RMC CEO Mika Nieminen observed. “There will be a big gap in the quay.”
In the northern spring, RMC held an Open Day for the launch of a warship it had built for the Finnish navy and underestimated the public interest in the event. “There were hundreds of people there,” Mika Nieminen recalled. “We ran out of sausages and drinks!”
The company didn’t make the same mistake at a launch event for Spirit V, where the barbecue supplies were plentiful and a fireworks display capped off the day.
The build contract was deepened through a partnership between the Australian Maritime College, based at the University of Tasmania, and Satakunta University of Applied Sciences (SAMK) based at Rauma. Under its memorandum of understanding, two SAMK students – one deck-based and one engine room - sailed from Rauma to Leith on Spirit V’s maiden voyage. The partnership is likely to see student exchanges between AMC and SAMK in the near future.
(SAMK also has a direct connection to DCN, after former journalist Abby Williams visited Rauma on a trip funded by Business Finland and was hosted by Minna Keinanen-Toivola, an adjunct professor at SAMK’s Maritime Logistics Research Centre.)
The deal between RMC and TT Line for the construction of Spirit IV and V is the biggest single export trade to date from Finland to Australia, worth about EUR 600 million ($1.06 million). Construction generated about 3500 person-years of employment, RMC estimates.