Labor has accused the state government of hiding key information about hull modifications needed on Tasmania’s new Spirit vessels – before they’ve even spent a day in service.
Opposition Leader Josh Willie said the government must reveal when it discovered the ships required upgrades to their hulls, how much the work will cost and where it will be carried out.
“We have a brand-new ship sitting on the docks in Hobart worth half a billion dollars. It hasn’t spent one day in service and it already needs upgrades to the hull,” he said.
“These questions have been posed in recent weeks, but we have no answers.”
Government minister Nick Duigan said today the work involved “relatively minor modifications”, but the government had nothing further to add.
TT-Line chair Ken Kanofski previously said the upgrades relate to new fenders on the Devonport wharf, which cushion ships as they berth.
The issue was identified during testing of worst-case scenarios such as rough weather or thruster failures, he said.
“In the scheme of things, this is a very, very minor issue,” Kanofski said.
TT-Line earlier said the hull upgrades are precautionary and will be covered “within the current budget”.
But Labor maintains the government knows more than it’s revealing about costs and timelines.
“I think that they knew about this some time before it became public,” Willie said.
“I think that they’ve done some of the costings and they know full well what it’s going to take to repair these ships.”
Braddon MP Anita Dow said it was “extraordinary” the hull issues were only discovered 12 months after taking ownership of the first vessel.
“We don’t really know the true extent of the costs associated with this project,” she said.
