Tobruk 4 Tassie project manager Peter Paulsen said the Darwin was due to be decommissioned at the end of 2017.

After almost four years of lobbying to have the Tobruk used as a dive wreck in Skelton Bay, south of Binalong Bay, Mr Paulsen said the hard work had already been done.

He said the business case for the Tobruk showed the project was viable.

“The federal government will only gift the vessel to state governments so it’s imperative that the state government want to take this on board because without that this won’t happen,” Mr Paulsen said.

When he approached the state government at its St Helens cabinet meeting he was told there was interest. A state government spokesman confirmed there was support for the HMAS Darwin proposal. 

“We are the only state not to have a former naval vessel as a dive wreck, and we are in active discussions with the Australian government through Senator Jonathon Duniam,” the spokesman said.

The senator said he had already held preliminary talks with Minister Dan Tehan's office.

“I … am (also) in discussion with the state government around what support they may be able to offer in scoping the feasibility of using the ship as a dive wreck in Tasmania,” Senator Duniam said.

Related Stories:

Mr Paulsen believes Tasmania is in a good bargaining position but said the state government needed to not just support the proposal in principle but offer a financial commitment to the deal.

“I doubt whether there would be much competition given the recent results, the only two players last time around were Tasmania and Queensland,” he said.

Queensland’s first ex-Navy ship gifted by the federal government went along with a cheque of approximately $5.8 million. The Tobruk was its second ship.

Similarly, Victoria and New South Wales both possess a ship each and Western Australia has been home to two ships for some time.

A study by the New South Wales government for the ex HMAS Adelaide Artificial Reef Project, which was scuttled in 2011, found there could be about 5000 divers annually.

The HMAS Darwin vision would see the East Coast host a world class dive site that Mr Paulsen said would boost the economy through tourism and create a new environment for marine species.

In 2016 he said acquiring HMAS Tobruk to sink at Skeleton Bay would contribute $5 million annually into the wider economy and create 60 full-time jobs.