THE 20-year-old Spirit of Tasmania ferries might be on their way out, but they’re still helping the state-owned TT-Line to break records.
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Infrastructure Minister Jeremy Rockliff will tell a parliamentary scrutiny committee on Friday the Spirits carried a record 448,764 passengers in 2017-18 – a three per cent increase on the previous financial year.
Nearly 70 per cent of those passengers were from interstate and almost 90 per cent travelled with vehicles, underlining the Spirits’ value to regional tourism in Tasmania, including the North-West and West coasts.
“We know that visitors who come to Tasmania on the Spirits stay longer, spend more, and look for unique experiences in regional areas, which spreads the economic benefits right across the state,” Mr Rockliff said.
A three per cent increase in sailings took TT-Line to a total of 859 Bass Strait crossings for the year; with the 156 day sailings the highest since 2004 when the company was operating three ships.
Growth continued in freight volumes, with a record 105,208 Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit (TEU) containers carried last year compared with 103,430 in 2016-17.
More passengers and more freight helped deliver record revenues of $244.6 million for TT-Line, compared with $231.8 million for the previous year.
This contributed to a pre-tax profit of $63.4 million, a jump on the $35.9 million recorded for 2016-17, and an after-tax profit of $44.4 million (up from $25.1 million).
TT-Line’s financial results come as a project is underway to replace its ships.
The government claims its “strong financial management” will deliver “two new, next generation Spirit of Tasmania ferries earlier than expected”.
Labelled “the biggest ever infrastructure investment by a Tasmanian Government”, Mr Rockliff said the new ships – to be built in Germany at a cost of about $700 million – “are on track to be delivered in the summer of 2021”.
Helping to finance the new ships is an increase in the valuation of the current Spirit of Tasmania ferries, which entered service with TT-Line in 2002 after they were purchased from Greek shipping line Superfast Ferries.
The ships have been revalued at $67.5 million Euros – about $106 million in Australian dollars.