Spirit swap details unveiled

THE TRANSITION from the old Spirits of Tasmania to the new Bass Strait ro-paxes will involve a week of no paid passenger travel as crews and hotel staff familiarise themselves with Spirit of Tasmania IV and V.

A situation that has been puzzling travellers for many months, and has received a lot of attention on social media, has been clarified with the news existing vessels Spirit of Tasmania I and II will make their final Geelong-Devonport-Geelong sailings on 22-23 and 23-24 October respectively.

Staff will then transfer to the replacement vessels, which will operate a series of ‘live trials’ sailings while freight operations, onboard operations and final preparations are fine-tuned. No paying passengers will be carried, although it is expected tourism, travel and invited guests will feature.

The first official sailing will then be by Spirit of Tasmania IV, departing Devonport at 1845 31 October to arrive Geelong the following morning at 0630.

TT Line CEO Chris Carbone said: “We have planned a transition period in the final week of October which is an important part of the Spirit Operational Readiness Program as we work through the changeover requirements for the transition to operations for Spirit IV and V.

“It gives us the opportunity to safely complete the changeover from the existing vessels to the new ships. A transition period is a normal part of projects of this scale to ensure we can deliver a safe, reliable and high-quality service. We also undertake live operational testing (12 sailings), carrying non-paying passengers and some freight,” Mr Carbonne said.

TT Line has also announced that once the new vessels enter service, with their significantly-enhanced passenger and vehicular capacity, the company will no longer routinely off daylight sailings, although these may be possible if demand can’t be met.

Ahead of the changeover, TT Line has advised Tasmania’s Parliament that hull-strengthening work has been completed on Spirit IV and is due for completion on Spirit V in Melbourne shortly. On 23-24 September Spirit V will sail to Devonport for operational commissioning at the new TT terminal at Berth 3, East Devonport.