On Friday, October 28, Rauma shipyard (Finland) celebrated the keel-laying of Spirit of Tasmania IV, a cruiseferry being built for TT-Line Tasmania.
TT-Line is a significant player in maritime transport between mainland Australia-Tasmania and has commissioned two identical ferries/sisterships from RMC/Rauma Marine Constructions Oy. The project is the largest individual foreign sale between Australia and Finland. It will create a total of ~3500 person-years’ worth of employment at the shipyard.
Spirit of Tasmania’s huge L-222 keel weighs ~230 metric tons.
Currently, the Spirit of Tasmania-named ships (Tasmania 1 and Tasmania 2) carry ~450,000 passengers per year. The new ferries will operate on a challenging route across the Bass Strait between Geelong Victoria-Devonport Tasmania. The vessels have been specially designed to undertake the specific route.
The ships will hold 1800 passengers each (301 cabins+165 recliners). Their gross tonnage/volume will be ~48000 GT tons. The newbuilds will replace the Finnish-built sisterships from the 1990s. Building of the first ferry will be completed at the start of 2024 and the 2nd in late 2024.