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, a...