{"id":304660,"date":"2025-10-21T02:07:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-20T16:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=304660"},"modified":"2025-10-21T00:13:27","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T14:13:27","slug":"spirit-of-tasmania-iv-ship-unable-to-dock-at-interim-berth-at-point-henry-in-geelong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=304660","title":{"rendered":"Spirit of Tasmania IV ship unable to dock at interim berth at Point Henry in Geelong"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

State-owned ferry operator TT-Line has been forced to scrap plans to dock Spirit of Tasmania IV at a berth in Point Henry in Geelong after a safety assessment found it was not strong enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The newly constructed Spirit of Tasmania IV was going to be stored there temporarily after leaving Hobart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spirit IV, which has been getting its final fit-out over the past two months, has been moored at Hobart’s Macquarie Wharf.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The wharf is used by many cruise ships that visit over the summer, meaning it cannot stay there.<\/p>\n\n\n

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The new ships can carry more people and freight than the old vessels. (ABC News: Loretta Lohberger)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

While it was originally set to be temporarily stationed at Point Henry at the Port of Geelong, TT-Line has confirmed “a mooring safety assessment indicated that the berth required infrastructure works”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead, it will need to be moved between different berths at the Port of Geelong. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“As there is no viable option in Tasmania, the vessel will be temporarily stored at the Port of Geelong at a combination of Spirit’s existing terminal, at anchor and at a nearby berth,” a TT-Line spokesperson said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n

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The government explored leasing opportunities to recoup some costs, but in the end the ship came to Hobart.(Supplied: Andy Marriott)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The ABC understands that a recent safety assessment found the berth would need two additional bollards for the ship to berth there, at a cost of $2 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ship was due to leave Hobart for Geelong on Saturday morning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spirit IV will be stored at the Port of Geelong until it can enter service, which is expected to be in late 2026. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

TT-Line has previously said that even at anchor, it was cheaper to keep the ship in Geelong than Hobart, because of crewing requirements. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Geelong requires a 12-person crew on board, while in Hobart it is required to have a 22-person crew.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ABC News<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The ship was due to leave Hobart for Geelong on Saturday morning.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":304661,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[273,35],"tags":[4598,8573,18500,8],"class_list":["post-304660","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-australia","category-breaking-news","tag-geelong","tag-hobart","tag-spirit-of-tasmania","tag-victoria"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t