Australian ‘ferries fiasco’ ship to be mothballed in Edinburgh

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”, external 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.