Australian Ferry Fiasco

Introduction

This evening, I am reporting on my visit earlier today to an extremely windy, Leith which is the industrial/port area of Edinburgh, Scotland's capital.

 Image of the 212m-long 'Spirit of Tasmania IV' moored at Imperial Dock, Leith

More Information

Tasmania is an island state of Australia and relies on ferries to link with the Australian mainland.But why is the vessel moored in Leith, 12000 miles away from home? The incredible story surpasses even the ferry debacle being played out on the west coast of Scotland with island communities at the forefront of suffering.

In essence,the Tasmanian government commissioned the new build vessel from a yard in Finland which seems to have completed the contract on time and to spec.So far so good. A key problem occurred when it was found that the vessel was too large to fit existing berths in the Tasmanian city of Devonport. 

The ship, together with a sister vessel, Spirit of Tasmania V, which is still under construction, are seen as key to developing Tasmania's tourism industry. However, rising costs associated with upgrading the port facilities have turned the project into a major political scandal.The Tasmanian opposition leader has called the situation the biggest infrastructure stuff-up in the state's history.

The upgraded port facilities in Tasmania are not scheduled to be ready until 2026 or 2027. In the meantime the vessel(s) will have to be moored somewhere but Finland is not deemed suitable due to potential ice damage during the winter time. So,the authorities have found a temporary home for the first vessel in Leith harbour, about 2000 miles from Finland and away from pack ice.No doubt this arrangement will generate useful mooring fee income for Leith harbour, much to the chagrin of Tasmanian tax payers. 

It is worthy of note that two of the senior Australian executives involved have seen fit to resign with no such accountability so far within the Scottish establishment responsible for the separate ferry fiasco here.

Rear view of vessel.


More information (cont.)

The publication Visitors’ Guide to Scotland contains a wide range of information for the visitor, including cities such as Edinburgh. The ISBN is 978-1-9161332-0-4. This book is also available via Kindle.


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