Australian 'fiasco' ferry ordered to leave Edinburgh
A newly-constructed Australian ferry will be moved from Edinburgh to the other side of the world after leasing negotiations broke down.Often described as a "fiasco", the Spirit of Tasmania IV has been docked in Leith for three months due to issues with existing infrastructure in the Tasmanian city of Devonport.Operator TT-Line said it had been engaging with a broker to lease the ferry, however an agreement could not be reached.The Tasmanian government has now ordered the ferry operator to relocate the 212m-long (695ft) vessel to the island.
The ship was built at a yard in Finland, but had to be moved to Scotland before winter over concerns it could be damaged by pack ice.A new berth to accommodate the ship, and sister vessel Spirit of Tasmania V, may not be ready until late 2026 or 2027 and the saga has sparked a huge political row in Australia.
The vessel was due to operate in the Bass Strait, between Tasmania and the Australian state of Victoria, and had been described as a "game-changer" for the island's tourism industry.However, it has seen a series of delays in its construction, skyrocketing costs and problems upgrading the current berths - mirroring many of Scotland's own ferry problems.Tasmania's infrastructure minister, Michael Ferguson, and the chairman of ferry operator TT-Line, which is state-owned, resigned due to the controversy in August.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.Meanwhile the cost of upgrading current infrastructure in Devonport, which handles about 450,000 passengers a year, has more than quadrupled from an original estimate of A$90m (£45.5m).TT-Line was paying A$47,534 (£24,031) per week to berth the ship at Forth Ports, according to figures published by the Tasmanian government.Last week Australian media reported there was a possibility of the ferry being used to house Ukrainian refugees in Scotland.However the Scottish government quickly dismissed this saying: "This is not true and we have no plans to lease this or any other vessel for this purpose."
'Biggest infrastructure stuff-up'
Tasmania's transport minister Eric Abetz said that the government had done all it could to secure a lease that would benefit Tasmanians.He said: "We had an opportunity to secure an agreement worth tens of millions of dollars for the Tasmanian taxpayer, and it would have been economically irresponsible not to explore this."Previous similar leases provided more than €50m (£41.2m) to vessel owners, and it was prudent that we sought similar arrangements for Tasmanian taxpayers."The relentless negativity is hurting the state's economic opportunities, and it's time to move forward together."Tasmanian Labor, the opposition party, welcomed the "backflip" from the government but said it came four months and and millions of dollars too late.A spokesman said: "The ferry fiasco has been the biggest infrastructure stuff-up in Tasmania's history, but the cover-up has been even worse than the crime."
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