Tasmania’s oldest continuously licensed passenger vessel is heading back to the Hobart shipyard where she was built more than a century ago.
The Steamship Cartela Trust says its restoration project has entered a new phase that will see the 1912 vessel moved from Franklin, in the Huon Valley, to Battery Point.
The move comes more than a year after Cartela partially sank at her Franklin berth.
Trust director Jude Franks said the next stage would involve finishing slipway upgrades at Battery Point, building a purpose-built cradle to hold the vessel and then shifting her back to Hobart.
She told Pulse it was a big moment for the volunteers who had supported the project for years.
“For the first time since the refloating operation, we now have a clear and achievable pathway from stabilisation to restoration,” Franks said.
“This is not the end of the journey. It is the beginning of a new chapter.”
Cartela was built by Purdon and Featherstone in 1912, the same year as the Titanic.
She carried passengers and freight around southern Tasmania for a century before being decommissioned for restoration after her centenary in 2012.
She is Australia’s oldest continuously licensed passenger vessel.
The project has hit repeated hurdles, including technical problems, changing regulations and funding pressures.
Its lowest point came in February 2025, when the vessel partially sank. She was refloated the following month.
“Projects of this nature are rarely straightforward,” Franks said.
“There have certainly been moments when the project has tested all of us, but our commitment to preserving Cartela has never wavered.”
The trust received $1 million from the state government in 2023.
Franks said all the grant money had been spent in line with the funding agreements and properly accounted for.
The project has also relied on private donations, free professional work and thousands of volunteer hours.
Once Cartela reaches Battery Point, she will be lifted out of the water for a full survey before restoration planning begins.
The trust is also talking to the Wooden Boat Centre about rebuilding her timber superstructure.
It will now launch a fundraising campaign asking Tasmanians to share their Cartela stories.
“Cartela is much more than timber and steel,” Franks said.
“She carries the memories of generations of Tasmanians. She is and always has been The People’s Boat.”
“We want to celebrate not only the vessel itself, but the thousands of personal stories connected to her.”
“If you celebrated a wedding aboard Cartela, went on a school excursion, enjoyed Sunday cruises with your family or simply have treasured photographs tucked away in an album, we would love to hear from you.”
“Those stories are just as important as the restoration itself.”
