If everything had gone to plan the newly constructed Spirit of Tasmania IV would have been transporting freight and passengers across the Bass Strait from late last year. Instead, a decision on whether to store or privately lease the ship is expected to come from operator TT-Line in the coming weeks.
Delays to the construction of necessary upgrades to the Spirit IV’s home port of Devonport means that, currently, the new, larger ship cannot be housed, and has since been scored in Leith Port in Scotland since December last year.
Berthing the vessel in Scotland cost $47,534 per week for the first 30 days, before that figure reduced to $23,915 per week afterwards, however that does not include crewing costs or ancillary charges which could balloon to over $380,000 per month.
After TT-Line initially stated the new ships would not be leased before Devonport was ready to house them, they shortly backflipped on the decision after Premier Jeremy Rockliff pushed the possibility.
“Work by TT-Line’s specialist broker continues to export options for leasing or charter of the Spirit IV vessel,” a statement from the Tasmanian government says.
“Various interested parties recently travelled to Leith to tour the vessel, with discussions ongoing.
“Advice is expected to be received by the end of the month, at which point a decision will be made.”
The news of the impending decision comes just after TT-Line embarked on a near total refresh of its board and decision-makers, with experienced infrastructure expert Ken Kanofski selected as the new Chair.
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