Australian ‘ferries fiasco’ ship to be mothballed in Edinburgh

A huge newly-constructed ship is to be mothballed in Edinburgh as result of a “ferries fiasco” on the other side of the world.

The 212m-long (695ft) Spirit of Tasmania IV will be stored at Port of Leith because it is too large to fit the existing berths in the Australian city of Devonport.

The ferry has been built at a shipyard in Finland but it has to be moved out before winter because it could be damaged by pack ice.

A new berth to accommodate the ship in the island state of Tasmania will not be ready until late 2026 or 2027.

The ship – and its sister vessel Spirit of Tasmania V, which is still being built – had previously been described as a “game changer” for Tasmania’s tourism industry.

But construction delays, rising costs and the problems with upgrading existing infrastructure have turned it into the state’s biggest political scandal in a decade.

Australian media have described it as a “fiasco” and “debacle” while opposition leader Dean Winter called it the “biggest infrastructure stuff-up” in the state’s history.

The cost of building the two LNG dual-fuel ships has risen by A$94m (£47.5m) from A$850m (£430m) when the contract was signed in 2021 – while port upgrade costs, originally estimated at A$90m (£45.5m), have more than quadrupled.

Both the ferry company TT-Line and ports firm TasPorts are state-owned, and in August the infrastructure minister, Michael Ferguson, and TT-line chairman, Mike Grainger, both resigned.

In recent days it has emerged that the berth in Devonport – that was supposed to be built by now – would not be completed until October 2026 at the earliest.

TT-Line chief executive Bernard Dwyer said with pack ice expected in the Finnish shipyard town of Rauma in late November, it was important to move Spirit of Tasmania IV to another location.

“To ensure the vessel’s safety and preservation, we will temporarily relocate it to Leith, Scotland, where conditions are more suitable,” he said.

“This move is necessary, as the vessel is not designed for the extremely low ambient temperatures anticipated in Rauma.”

He said the firm was looking into whether it might be possible to lease out the vessel.

But it is understood that more work would be required before that could happen because the original construction deal involved some final fitting out work being completed in Australia.

The size of the ships means it is unlikely they could be used in Scotland, despite the west coast ferry operator CalMac being in desperate need of new vessels.

The story has a number of parallels with Scotland’s own “ferries fiasco” where state-owned ferries company CMAL ordered ships that were too large to fit existing infrastructure.

The LNG dual-fuel ships Glen Sannox and Glen Rosa, still being built at Ferguson shipyard in Port Glasgow, are meant to sail from Ardrossan to Arran but are unable to use the mainland port because of delays to a planned redevelopment.

Then Transport Minister Humza Yousaf announced the Ardrossan upgrade in 2018, but deadlock between its private owner Peel Ports, the local council and the Scottish government over costs means there is as yet no timescale for the work.

Glen Sannox and Glen Rosa will instead have to sail from Troon initially, meaning a 20-minute longer journey and fewer daily sailings, and there will be no dedicated fast refuelling facilities for the LNG.