Premier Jeremy Rockliff has confirmed TT-Line will explore options to “lease or charter” the state’s two new Spirit of Tasmania ferries.
Speaking on Thursday, Rockliff announced a revised plan for the rollout following an “expert report” into the project’s infrastructure delays.
Under the new plan, the government will aim for a completion date of February 2027 in the “worst-case scenario” for the Devonport berthing infrastructure.
However, the Premier said he believes the project could potentially be brought forward to October 2026, in time for the peak summer period.
“The situation we find ourselves in is quite frankly unfathomable,” he said.
“It has now become clear that if we hadn’t intervened, this project may not have been finished until much later.”
“With the first of our new Spirits set to leave Finland in coming weeks and head to Hobart for final fit out, that is completely unacceptable.”
He said the new Spirits will still travel to Tasmania for final fit-out and not Singapore as had been floated.
“Once complete and ready to enter service, the TT-Line will look to lease or charter the new Spirits, and has employed a broker to find suitable options,” he said.
“If no appropriate option is found and the vessels need to be stored in Tasmania -we will ensure that TasPorts will not charge TT-Line to do so.”
“By leasing the vessels, Tasmanians will benefit financially and avoid the need to incur further maintenance and storage costs.”
Transport Minister Eric Abetz said investigations revealed modifying the existing Berth 1E to accommodate the vessels in Devonport would be unsafe.
“Options to modify both Berth 1E and Berth 2E were also investigated but found any modifications would provide limited benefits, cost the taxpayer up to $60 million and would require significant timely and costly compensation and renegotiation of agreements,” he said.
“It would also pose risks of vessel allision.”
“Ultimately, any financial investment into Berth 1E and Berth 2E would outweigh the benefits of bringing forward the timeline.”
