20th Birthday celebration for the Spirit of Tasmania ships

Spirit of Tasmania I and II are celebrating their 20th birthdays this year (31 March and 28 February respectively) which was celebrated today by the crew with a ship-shaped cake.

The iconic red and white vessels were built in 1998 by Kvaerner Masa-Yards in Finland, the vessels commenced operating on Bass Strait in September 2002.

By 31 March this year, Spirit of Tasmania I and Spirit of Tasmania II will have each completed more than 6,000 round trips across Bass Strait.

On these trips Spirit of Tasmania I and II have carried nearly 6.3 million passengers, more than 2.7 million passenger vehicles and nearly 1.3 million TEUs.

Spirit of Tasmania Chief Executive Officer Bernard Dwyer said these numbers demonstrated the enormous value of the service to the Tasmanian tourism industry and the broader Tasmanian economy.

“They are also a demonstration of our long-standing achievement in delivering a safe and reliable passenger, passenger vehicle and freight service,” he said.

Spirit of Tasmania has recently introduced two additional day sailings on Tuesday 27 March and Sunday 29 April to meet increasing demand for travel.

The sailings will assist Tasmanians planning to travel just prior to Easter, Victorian school holiday travellers wishing to visit Tasmania, as well as those wishing to travel with a caravan or motorhome during this popular holiday period.

Mr Dwyer said Spirit of Tasmania’s day sailing strategy had been very successful following the refurbishment of the vessels.
“Spirit of Tasmania achieved a company record for January,” he said. “Passenger volumes were the highest on record, higher even than when the company was operating three vessels.”