Premier Jeremy Rockliff has announced the first of the new Spirit of Tasmania vessels will begin its journey to the state from Scotland within 10 days.
The Premier revealed Spirit IV will embark on a six-week voyage to reach Tasmanian shores following successful sea trials, marking a long awaited milestone in the state’s ferry service upgrade.
“We said we would fix the spirits, and we have,” Rockliff said.
“As Premier, I intervened, and we’re getting the job done. That is very clear.”
The announcement comes amid political debate over the future fuelling options for the vessels, with Labor today committing to convert the ships to locally produced Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) if elected.
Labor’s proposal would require TT-Line to run the vessels on LNG rather than diesel, claiming it would trigger substantial private investment while creating 150 construction jobs and 15 ongoing positions.
Tasmanian Gas Pipeline CEO Wacek Lipski has expressed support for the initiative.
“We stand ready both with capital and technical know-how,” Lipski said.
Labor claims the switch to LNG would help the vessels comply with federal emissions reduction targets while providing fuel price certainty for TT-Line.
The new vessels are already equipped with Wärtsilä LNGPac systems, sophisticated dual-fuel technology allowing them to run on both LNG and diesel.
Rockliff says he is “very proud” of the work the current Spirit ships do and is committed to “getting the job done” with the new ships.
“There will be refuelling options, and all refuelling options will be canvassed to ensure that we do have the required infrastructure,” he said.
