The Spirit of Tasmania I & II will as of today (Tuesday) carry only freight and repatriation of Tasmanians and mainlanders home and emergency workers only. All holiday makers will not be permitted in Tasmania, including people wanting to self isolate in Caravnas etc. The two ferries a carry large amounts of fresh produce daily to Victoria for Supermarkets, and supply Tasmania with up to 80 trailers of essential goods daily.
It has been announced to today by TT-Line of Tasmania that the new builds will not be built at Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft. The contract was mutually terminated.
TT-Line have signed a memorandum of understanding with Rauma Marine constructions of Finland. Currently the expected delivery of the new ships is late 2022 for the first vessel and late 2023 for the second. Rauma had been short listed during the selection process some years ago.
The Rauma ship yard has a long history with building quality ferries over the years, although under several different stages of ownership. They are currently working on the My Star ferry for Estonian based Tallink with delivery 2021.
My Star currently under construction at Rauma. Maybe the new spirits will look a bit like this?
Recently swan in Premier if Tasmania, Peter Gutwein has admitted that the new TT-Line ferries will be late after the state opposition party, labor have been pressing the Government to tell the people whats going on. Although the media has contacted TT-Line, and they maintain that there has been no change to the contract, and expect the vessels to be delivered on time.
The Theofolos, once Bass Strait ferry Abel Tasman was sold back in October to Crete based shipping company ANEN Lines, a subsidiary of ANEK Lines. She will soon make her last trip and will leave Greece for the final time under tow bound for Aliaga Turkey. A crew have come onboard to check the operation a few vital systems, and to see if they can raise the anchors. She will depart soon. More info as it comes to light.
Abel Tasman as built back in 1975 in West Germany as Nils Holgersson.
Tasmanian’s are wondering whats going on with their new ships, and why construction hasn’t t started yet. Questions are being asked why the building hall remains empty and which ship will be built next.
At this stage, no one really knows for sure. Brittany Ferries Honfleur is meant to be delivered within the next few moths all going well. Although it is rumored the delay will go over a year from the scheduled delivery date of June 2019. Also the Ro/Ro hull 781 LIEKUT is in the fit out strange after being launched October of last year. She is due to be delivered in March.
Irish ferries new build 777 is meant to have begin construction by now, but as far as we know not even the first steel has been cut. It is quite possible the legal teams of FSG and ICG have locked horns, as there is no way FSG can deliver on time. Maybe they are in the process of renegotiation, or compensation for not building the ship at all. It’s all just speculation until an announcement is made. The industry expects an announcement to be made soon, as ICG is a publicly listed company and can’t remain tight lipped forever. Once we know what is happening with the ICG new build, it will be clearer on when the TT-Line new builds will be built.
Devonport City Council to seek clarity from state government on delivery of new Spirits
DOUBT: After the contracted shipyard Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft revealed it was in financial difficultues in February 2019, there have been ongoing concerns the new Spirit of Tasmania vessels will be delivered late. Concerns over the on-time delivery of the new Spirits of Tasmania continue with Devonport mayor Annette Rockliff saying she will write to the Premier next week seeking clarification on the issue because of their importance to Devonport. After the German shipyard contracted to build the vessels Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft revealed it was in financial difficulties in February 2019, there have been ongoing concerns about the project with a European line whose ship is currently being built by FSG ahead of the Spirits confirming this week their order has been delayed further. Cr Rockliff said the potential late arrival of the Spirits would have an impact on the council’s planning for capital expenditure over the next few years. The Commonwealth has committed $3 million to beautify the Tasmanian sea entrance at Devonport and encourage visitors to explore the North-West.
DELAYED DELIVERY: The problems plaguing the German shipyard chosen to build the next Spirit of Tasmania ferries continue as its shipbuilding hall (bottom left) sits empty.
“We have federal funding that we’ve been able to delay to allow us to use it once we know where the new Spirits are going. We’ve been waiting for TT-Line and Tasports to make final arrangements about where the new Spirits are berthing in the river,” Cr Rockliff said. “When I’ve been speaking about [the arrival of the new Spirits] it’s been in relation to 2022.” Cradle Coast Authority chief executive Daryl Connelly said the ships were important to deliver visitors to the region to make use of tourism infrastructure such as recently upgraded coastal pathway. “For our region to be able to get the most mileage out of that, the most return for that, we need to have those Spirits delivering more people here who will get off the boat and, not only ride their bike along the pathway, but will stop at cafes, shops and other experiences,” Mr Connelly said.
Tourism
Industry Council Tasmania chief executive Luke Martin said he did not
think a delay on the ships would have a significant impact on tourism in
the short-term.
“The current ships still have a lot of life in them, do a stellar job, and passenger numbers continue to grow,” Mr Martin said.
“Obviously,
we’re looking forward to seeing the next generation ships on the route
as soon as possible. It is the largest visitor infrastructure project in
[Tasmania], so it is exciting for the industry, especially in regional
areas.”
Labor
infrastructure spokesman Shane Broad said the government, instead of
clinging to its previous statement the vessels would be delivered next
year, needed to tell Tasmanians if this was just another broken promise.
“We need to know
when building the new vessels will start and when they will be delivered
so that tourism operators, business and exporters can plan their
investments and passengers can look forward to more capacity,” Dr Broad
said.
A government
spokesperson reiterated the government was confident TT-Line would
deliver the new vessels and the company remains in regular communication
with FSG regarding its contracts.
A recent Tasmanian Government parliamentary hearing has head the Victorian Ports Corporation has put forward an unacceptable deal to continue to dock at Station pier. TT-Line are said to be considering other ports to dock the ferries after 2022 when the current contract runs out.
Transport Tasmania Minister Michael Ferguson told a government business enterprise scrutiny hearing on Friday the offer put to TT-Line by VicPorts was quite unacceptable in terms of pricing and conditions.
“I’m not in a position to provide numbers as they are subject to a negotiation,” Mr Ferguson said.
“What we won’t be able to accept is unreasonable price charges that affect our business and affect business and passenger costs.”
If there do end up docking there again, Vic ports will need to make substantial upgrades for the new ships to be able to dock there, as the design includes 3 decks of loading and a 9m wide bow ramp, the widest ever installed on a Ro/Ro ship.
Currently there is no update from FSG. TT-Line are claiming that the ships will be delivered by March 2021, which will not happen unless a miracle occurs, as FSG are yet to start work on the Irish ferries vessel to be delivered before the Tasmanian twins.
Leader of the Tasmanian Government, Premier Will Hodgman will be in Europe next week to drum up trade for Tasmanian exports and is being urged by the opposition to meet with FSG representatives to ensure on time delivery of the vessels and that tax payers money is safe. His itinerary features visits to the Thales Underwater Systems facility in France, as well as the Navantia shipyard in Spain. “The government isn’t taking the time to fly a couple of extra hours and get to Germany and sort out the problems with this troubled shipbuilder,” Dr Broad said.
Ferries of Tasmania has leaned that project manger of the new builds Tony Johnston has resigned for unknown reasons. This comes just months after former project manager Massimo Soprano resigned. Massimo was responsible for getting quotes from ship yards all over the world and working out what was needed etc. He is now working on getting new builds for New Zealand.
The old Victorian Reliance was replaced earlier this year, by the Chinese built Victorian Reliance II. It is beveled that Toll shipping will withdraw Victorian Reliance II which is suffering from leaking shaft seals. Experts from Europe will fly to Australia to undertake the work with the ship in the water. The old Victorian Reliance has been laid up in Singapore since being replaced, awaiting sale. She has sailed back to Tasmania to fill in from the end of November. She is culturally moored in Bell Bay.
Theofilos of the bankrupt Greek NEL Lines, former Bass strait ferry Abel Tasman was due to go to auction in the next few days, but in a surprise move the central harbor master of Elefsis has cancelled the public auction. Information has come to light that the ferry has been sold to a ANEN Lines for a price of 380,000 Euro. It is unclear what they will do with the ship. Due to the poor condition of it there is still a strong possibility Theofilos may go for scap, but here is to hoping she will sail again. . We will see over the coming days and weeks what will happen.
Abel Tasman moored in Devonport, Tasmania. Photo: Stephen Gatt Collection
TT-Line’s latest annual report says they had revenue of $260.3 million (2017/18: $244.6 million). Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) was $63.4 million (2017/18: $57.0 million) and after tax profit was $44.1 million (2017/18: $44.4 million).2019Releasing its 2018/19 annual report, operators of the Spirit of Tasmana ships, TT-Line have reported record revenues of $260.3 million, a pre-tax profit of $57.7 million and an after tax profit of $44.1 million for the year ended 30 June 2019.
Chairman Michael Grainger said passenger numbers for the year remained at record levels in line with last year at 446,869. The Spirit of Tasmania vessels were valued at 67.5 million euros each as at end 30 June 2019 From an operational perspective, the number of sailings increased by eight (867 in 2018/19 compared to 859 in 2017/18). This included a record 169 day sailings, breaking the previous record of 156 day crossings established in 2017/18.” Freight volumes also achieved record levels for the year supporting the additional investment in tonnage for freight across Bass Strait,” he said.
“At the time of writing, the Company was in close discussions with European shipbuilder Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft (FSG) regarding contracts for the construction of two new roll-on-roll-off ships to replace the current two vessels.While FSG’s financial difficulties were widely reported during the year, the Company has solid contracts in place with the shipbuilder to build the new Spirit of Tasmania vessels” https://www.spiritoftasmania.com.au/media/718477/spirit_of_tasmania_annual_report_2018-19.pdf
In other news, as of last week both Spirit of Tasmania vessels are now running on low sulfur fuel. Spirit of Tasmania I had undergone modification to run on Diesel, with the thought that low sulfur fuel would not be available in Australia. It has come to pass that it is now available and the ships are being monitored for any negative effects in the fuel delivery systems, such as pumps and injectors, as sulfur helps with lucubration..
