New Bass Strait ferry attracts considerable attention during Devonport trial call

FerryMore than 2,000 locals gathered along the banks of the Mersey River at the entrance to Devonport, Tasmania, at around 07:00 local time on 23 August as Spirit of Tasmania’s SPIRIT OF TASMANIA IV called at its home port for the first time. The two-day trial call took place ahead of the vessel’s planned entry into service across the Bass Strait between Devonport and Geelong, near Melbourne, in October.

SPIRIT OF TASMANIA IV was the first of the two sister ships, delivered by Rauma Marine Constructions in 2024 and 2025 respectively, to visit Devonport as part of the heavily delayed newbuilding project.

In 2018, Spirit of Tasmania (TT-Line Company Pty Ltd) ordered two 212-metre newbuildings, each with capacity for 1,800 passengers, from the then Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft (FSG) in Germany. The vessels were intended to replace the route’s two existing ferries, SPIRIT OF TASMANIA I and SPIRIT OF TASMANIA II, both built in 1998.

However, the newbuilding project at the financially troubled German shipyard was subsequently cancelled. Following a number of modifications to the original design, the order was transferred to the Finnish shipyard in 2021, initially delaying the introduction of the new tonnage on the Bass Strait by more than three years compared with the original schedule.

The entry into service of the two newbuildings, both of which spent periods laid up first in Leith, Scotland, and subsequently in Australia, was to be delayed even further. This was due to the upgrading of the berth and terminal facilities in Devonport to accommodate the two new and significantly larger ferries. Testing of these new facilities was the main purpose of the call at the vessels’ home port, just under two months before their announced entry into service.

aug 24 2026