A new 700-foot long ferry that’s too long for the Australian piers it’s meant to dock at will spend the next couple of years mothballed in Edinburgh, Scotland, and will soon be joined by its still-under-construction twin.
The two ferries are coming from a shipyard in Finland; they can’t stay there because of the danger of damage from winter pack ice that they are not built for. Intended for service between Tasmania and the mainland port of Davenport, they’ve been described as a game-changer for Tasmania tourism.
Cost overruns and planning changes have held up completion of new berths at Davenport, which are now not expected to be ready until 2026 or 2027. There have been large cost overruns on ships as well. Both the ferry company, TT-Line and the port operator TasPorts are state-owned.
