TT Line finally gives berth to new Spirits

TT LINE’s long-delayed and controversial new terminal at Berth 3 at East Devonport is finally open for business, just as long-serving ro-paxes Spirit of Tasmania I and II complete their last planned Bass Strait sailings.

Spirit Quay in Devonport was officially ‘launched’ yesterday [22 October] a little over a week ahead of the first commercial voyages of replacement vessels Spirit of Tasmania IV and V.

Tasmanian premier Jeremy Rockliff said the completed facility accommodates the purpose-built vessels and supports future growth in passenger numbers and freight volumes.

“The Spirit Quay development is a critical piece of infrastructure and will allow us to realise the true benefits that the new vessels will deliver for the state,” Mr Rockliff said.

“These vessels will bring with them generational benefit and will ply the Bass Strait for decades to come. Tasmania is entering a new era of opportunity, with this intergenerational infrastructure delivering more capacity for passenger vehicles and freight.”

BMD Constructions, which delivered TT Line’s Geelong Port facility (also designated Spirit Quay), was joined in the East Devonport project partnership by Fitzgerald Constructions Australia (which also worked with BMD in Geelong) and local Tasmanian companies Bridgepro Engineering, Gradco and Vos Constructions.

The new facility features a 740-tonne, 27-metre-high, 38-metre-wide gantry that supports four steel ramps that connect the concrete ramp to the new ships for the loading and unloading of vehicles.

Spirit I made its final departure from Devonport for Geelong last night and Spirit II will sail the same route tonight.

As yet there is no news of any sale of one or both vessels, with TT Line CEO Chris Carbone saying only that there were a number of interested potential buyers: “We're in advanced conversations with a number of parties in relation to the vessels,” Mr Carbone said.

Spirit I is due to leave TT Line’s Geelong berth at 1700 this evening and move to Melbourne to lay up at Nelson Pier, Williamstown, where it will swap with Spirit IV. In turn, on Saturday night Spirit II will conclude its final planned Geelong call and replace Spirit V at Melbourne’s Outer East Station Pier.

There will be no commercial passenger sailings in the coming week as Spirit IV and V undertake freight-only crossings and operational trials for crews and staff. The new ships will have their inaugural full-scale departures from Devonport and Geelong respectively on the night of 31 October.

Like Spirit IV and V, the retiring pair were built in Finland. But unlike the new, custom-designed vessels, they were part of a long series of ro-paxes delivered to Greece’s Attica Enterprises, Spirit I as Superfast IV and Spirit II as Superfast III for service in the Mediterranean, the Baltic and on the North Sea. The 1998-built pair were bought by TT Line and entered service on Bass Strait in 2002.

When booking for the new ships opened on 16 September, the TT Line website collapsed, despite the deployment of what were thought to be adequate additional resources, after over 150,000 visits were recorded in the first hours.