Cost of storing Spirit of Tasmania ships in Scotland revealed

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The Spirit of Tasmania's operator has estimated a $24 million price tag for a 20-month stay in Scotland, but the Tasmanian government says it's just a short-term solution.

Transcript

00:00Gavin Imlach hoped his caravan park would be full of tourists, fresh off the new spirit

00:07of Tasmania ships, by now.

00:10But with the new ferries unable to dock in Devonport until early 2027, it's much quieter

00:17than he dreamed.

00:18My park is empty, now we're floundering here, we've invested a large amount of money in

00:27preparation for your 40% increase in occupancy.

00:32The first new spirit ship will trade Finland for Scotland in the next few weeks.

00:37But new documents show a Scottish shipyard will rake in the profits the Tasmanian tourism

00:42operators were banking on.

00:44TT Line estimating it will cost $24 million to store the ships there for the next 20 months.

00:51Tasmanians don't want their taxpayer money being wasted spending $1.2 million every month

00:57berthing these ships in Scotland when they should be here.

01:00The government not keen to buy in on the cost estimate.

01:04We're working through the detail, we'll let everyone know of course, we've been very transparent

01:10about all of these matters.

01:13The Premier doesn't plan for the ships to be in Scotland for long, preferring to lease

01:17them out to a private operator until their home port is ready.

01:22Going down the leasing path is to ensure that we can get value for money for Tasmanian

01:28taxpayer investment.

01:30The ship operator today announced the existing spirits will make an additional eight day

01:34sailings during the first half of next year, designed to make it easier to get caravans

01:39on board and ease the pain felt by tourism businesses.

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