MS Spirit of Tasmania II

MS Spirit of Tasmania II is a roll-on/roll-off ferry operated by TT-Line between Geelong and Devonport in Australia. Built in 1998 by Kvaerner Masa-Yards at Turku New Shipyard in Finland for Superfast Ferries as MS Superfast III, since 2002 she has sailed for TT-Line as MS Spirit of Tasmania II.

Spirit of Tasmania II at port in Devonport, Tasmania
History
Name
  • 1998–2002: Superfast III
  • 2002–present: Spirit of Tasmania II
Owner
Operator
  • 1998–2002: Superfast Ferries
  • 2003–2006: TT-Line
Port of registry
Route
BuilderKvaerner Masa-Yards Turku New Shipyard, Finland
Yard number1340[1]
Completed1998
Identification
StatusIn service
General characteristics
Class and typeSuperfast III class fast ropax ferry
Tonnage
Length194.33 m (637 ft 7 in)
Beam25.00 m (82 ft)
Draught6.55 m (21 ft 6 in)
Installed power
  • 4 × Sulzer 16ZA40S diesels
  • 42,240 kW
Speed30.8 knots (57.0 km/h; 35.4 mph) maximum speed
Capacity
  • 1,400 passengers
  • 750 berths
  • 500 cars[3]
  • 1,464 lanemeters[1]

Concept and construction

The Superfast III was the first ship of the second pair (the former pair being Superfast I and Superfast II) built for Superfast Ferries at Kvaerner Masa-Yards for its Adriatic Sea services from Patras to Ancona. She was a sister ship of Superfast IV.[1]

Amenities and deck layout

Spirit of Tasmania II has 11 decks, with 222 cabins.

  • Decks 1 to 6 are used to hold cars and trucks. The for-end of Decks 1 and 2 are accessed via a ramp from deck 3 (The Aft-end space of the two decks houses the ship's machinery). Deck 6 holds cars using a hoistable platform.
  • Deck 7 has cabins, a reception area, small movie theater, lounge bar, gaming lounge, gift shop, tourism bureau, main bar, two restaurants and a children's playroom.
  • Deck 8 has cabins and an ocean recliner area.
  • Deck 9 is mainly crew area.
  • Deck 10 has a bar and disco area.
  • Deck 11 has a helicopter landing pad.

Service history

1998–2002: Superfast III

The Superfast III entered service on 16 March 1998 on Superfast Ferries' Patras to Ancona service.[1] On 1 November 1999 en route from Patras to Ancona a fire broke out in a freezer trailer on the vehicle deck, most likely in the electrical system. The ship's vehicle deck drenching system along with crew put the blaze out. All 307 passengers and 106 crew were evacuated and picked up by nearby ships.[4]

The ship arrived back in Patras the day after the disaster, and investigations began. Fourteen dead bodies were found in a truck.[5] These bodies were later identified as refugees from Kurdistan.[5] After the investigations had concluded, the Superfast III set sail for the Blohm+Voss shipyards in Hamburg, Germany for repairs, arriving there on 3 December.

The repairs took 71 days during which 450 tons of steel, 84 km of cable, 1,200 m2 of insulation material and cladding were replaced, and a new tilting ramp and new public areas were installed.[6][7] The cost to the underwriter (Attica Enterprises) was US$26 million.[5] On 3 March she arrived back in Greece and once again operated on the Patras to Ancona route. In March 2002 the Superfast III was sold to TT-Line.[1]

2002 Onwards: Spirit of Tasmania II

TT-Line took over their new ship on 10 May 2002.[1] Along with her sister ship Superfast IV, she was handed over to TT-Line at Patras.[5] The two ships then sailed to the Neorion ship yard on the island of Syros. During the ship's dry docking, works such as painting the new livery and superstructure, as well as a general overhaul were carried out. At the yard she was renamed Spirit of Tasmania II.[1] She subsequently sailed to Hobart, Tasmania, where she was refitted for her new service. On 1 September 2002 she entered service on TT-Line's Melbourne to Devonport service.[1]

Between 21 July and 8 August 2014 the ship was docked for maintenance at the Captain Cook Graving Dock in Sydney.[8][9] In 2015 it was refurbished in Devonport.[10][11]

On 13 January 2016, the ship broke from her moorings at Station Pier, Melbourne during a storm and was withdrawn for repairs.[12][13] The ship was repaired and re-entered service on 17 January.

References
  1. Asklander, Micke. "M/S Superfast III (1998)". Fakta om Fartyg (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 18 February 2019. Retrieved 19 May 2008 – via Wayback Machine.
  2. "Ship facts - Spirit of Tasmania I & II" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2019. Retrieved 4 April 2020 – via Wayback Machine.
  3. "Quick facts". Archived from the original on 1 June 2019. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
  4. "Stowaways die in ferry fire". BBC News. 2 November 1999. Archived from the original on 14 November 2012. Retrieved 20 May 2008 – via Wayback Machine.
  5. Latreche, Lucas. "Spirit of Tasmania II". Ferries And Cruse Ships. Archived from the original on 30 June 2008. Retrieved 20 May 2008.
  6. Blohm+Voss Repair GmbH. "Repair Fire". Blohm+Voss Repair GmbH. Archived from the original on 8 July 2011. Retrieved 30 May 2009.
  7. MacGREGOR. "Superfast repair by MacGREGOR". MacGREGOR. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
  8. "Spirit of Tasmania - Timetable - 2014 DRY DOCK SCHEDULE". TT-Line Company. 2014. Archived from the original on 10 August 2014. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
  9. "Sydney Ports - Ship Schedule - Sydney Harbour - Departures". Sydney Ports. 8 August 2014. Archived from the original on 20 August 2013. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
  10. Trimline completes major refurbishment of ferries Spirit of Tasmania 1 & 2 Archived 15 February 2021 at the Wayback Machine Seatrade Maritime News 16 October 2015
  11. Transforming Spirit of Tasmania Ships Monthly February 2016 page 7
  12. Investigation launched as Spirit of Tasmania breaks free from moorings at Melbourne's Station Pier Archived 3 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine Herald Sun 14 January 2016
  13. Spirit of Tasmania breaks free from its moorings at Station Pier Archived 15 January 2016 at the Wayback Machine The Mercury 14 January 2016

Media related to Spirit of Tasmania II (ship, 1998) at Wikimedia Commons

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