For the better part of six months, Edinburgh resident Elaine Dick has been confronted with a 212-metre-long red-and-white Tasmanian ferry every time she looks out her living room window.
The Spirit of Tasmania IV has been docked at the nearby port of Leith since December – initially costing Tasmanian taxpayers around $47,000 a week – because the state government did not build a dock big enough to support it.
In Tasmania, the saga has been badged an “international embarrassment” by the state opposition. In Edinburgh, it’s become “a huge talking point” with many having “a wry chuckle” at Australia’s expense.
Over the weekend, curious locals and tourists sought a glimpse of a ship that seems to have sunk the Tasmanian premier, Jeremy Rockliff, and threatens to topple the government with an election looking likely.
A successful vote of no confidence in Rockliff cited the state government’s handling of the ferries project, which connects Victoria and Tasmania and is crucial to tourism and the local economy.
“I think the local community is a bit bemused by the whole thing,” said Dick, who is the co-chair of the Leith Harbour and Newhaven community council in Edinburgh.
“It must be costing a fortune to dock it here. I can imagine how angry people will be.”
But Ian Stirling, who founded a whisky distillery right next to where the Spirit of Tasmania is docked, is far from angry. His now long-term nautical neighbour has delivered patrons, with a side of political drama.
“I’ve bumped into several customers who’ve come to our top floor bar specifically to get a good view of it,” said Stirling.
“The story really amazes people with a wry chuckle perhaps. Hopefully it comes to a conclusion soon for the taxpayers in Australia!”
Stirling and Dick said Scots were all too familiar with costly ferry procurements leading to political headaches. The country’s own ferry project ran seven years late and faced a tide of criticism.
“Of course, for anyone from Scotland, it immediately makes us think of our own national ship fiasco that took place with the horrendously delayed Calmac ferries,” Cormack said.
“So I think the feeling is of gentle solidarity as we really do understand how incredibly expensive these things become when they go wrong.”
The Tasmanian government had expected a new port in Devonport to be completed in August 2024, shortly before Spirit IV was delivered by Rauma Marine Constuctions in Finland. But the port faced major budget blowouts and is not expected until late 2026 or early 2027.
Spirit IV was moved from Finland to Scotland at the start of the northern hemisphere winter, due to concerns it could be damaged by pack ice in the Baltic Sea.
While Spirit IV was docked at Leith, its state owned operator, TT-Line, searched for an operator to lease it until the port was completed in Tasmania. But negotiations collapsed in early March.
The state government told TT-Line to bring Spirit IV back to Tasmania and it was due to depart on 26 May, before being delayed by poor weather. During that time, engineers found technical problems with the ship’s liquefied natural gas systems.
“The government is awaiting further details in relation to a new expected departure date, but it is understood that this work will take some time,” the state’s transport minister, Eric Abetz, said last week.
When questioned about the delays in parliament, Abetz accused the Labor opposition of “talking [the ferry] down all the time”.
“I say thank goodness for the weather, because she might have been well into the deep oceans and then suffer a mechanical issue, the full extent of which I am not appraised of,” Abetz said.
“We want to make sure the ship is safe and, even more importantly, the crew is safe. We will do whatever is necessary to ensure the protection of the crew.”
A separate replacement ship, Spirit of Tasmania V, is still being constructed in Finland.
On Monday, Labor leader Dean Winter sought to frame the ships as an election issue and pledged to “immediately require TT-Line to take all necessary steps to bring our new Spirits home to Tasmania”.
