With an early election looming, Labor leader Dean Winter has pledged to bring the stranded Spirit of Tasmania ferries home from overseas as soon as possible.
Speaking in Devonport this morning, Winter said Tasmanians faced a choice between a Labor government that would prioritise the ferries’ return and Premier Jeremy Rockliff’s Liberals, who had overseen “the biggest infrastructure stuff up in Tasmanian history”.
“They’re on the wrong side of the world because they have chosen to leave them there,” he said.
Spirit of Tasmania IV has been stored at Scotland’s Port of Leith since late 2024, with required upgrades to Devonport’s port infrastructure not expected to be completed until late 2026 or early 2027.
The replacement ferry program has been hit by multiple setbacks since 2021, including the collapse of the original German shipbuilder, a €50 million cost blowout with the Finnish replacement builder and terminal upgrade costs that have blown out from $90 million to $375 million.
Winter said a Labor government would “direct” ferry operator TT-Line to bring the Spirits home as soon as they are ready for service.
“They should have been brought home in December last year. The first ship has been ready to go since last year. The ship needs to come home. It should be out here in Tasmania,” Winter said.
Rockliff is expected to call Tasmania’s second early election in just over a year on Tuesday, having lost the confidence of parliament last week.
Minister Felix Ellis said the state government and TT-Line have a “clear plan” to get the new ferries to Tasmania and operational once fuel system issues, covered under warranty, are fixed.
“If Dean Winter’s plan is to bring back ships that need warranty repairs to Tasmania and then send them back to the other side of the world, I thought he was inexperienced and in over his head before but this really takes the cake,” Ellis said.
“We’ve been really clear. We’re bringing the Spirits home and we’ve even been able to deliver an accelerated pipeline so that we can do that.”
According to TT-Line, a resolution to the fuel system issue was identified last week and is now being implemented on Spirit of Tasmania IV at the Port of Leith in Scotland.
