The Tasmanian government says it is looking to lease out its two new Spirit of Tasmania ferries to a private operator until permanent port infrastructure is built at Devonport, after another blowout in the construction timeline.

Both ships are nearing completion in Finland, but Premier Jeremy Rockliff has announced their berth in Devonport is not set to be ready until February 2027, two and a half years later than originally estimated.

It is the latest twist in a saga that has caused great concern for Tasmania's tourism industry, and led to the resignation of former deputy premier Michael Ferguson from cabinet, as well as key players from state-owned companies TT-Line and TasPorts.

The project to build new port infrastructure at Devonport has been beset by delays and cost blowout, and was last expected to be completed by January 2026.

Speaking of a best-case scenario, Mr Rockliff told a press conference in Devonport on Thursday that "if all goes well, we can have this done by October 2026."

Mr Rockliff said ship operator TT-Line was "engaging a broker" to look at leasing the new ships out until the port infrastructure was ready.

"We need to maximise the opportunity for Tasmania and Tasmanians when it comes to the most sustainable way forward financially and maximising the value of what are considerable assets for Tasmania," he said.

Mr Rockliff said it was too early to talk about specific options for leasing out the ships.

Asked if the debacle had caused reputational damage to Tasmania, Mr Rockliff said he was "very disappointed in the circumstances of which we find ourselves in".

"But we've got to take it forward. We have got to all work together and pitch in to get the job done. And you know, we can look back, but we must look forward and do the best we possibly can to minimise any brand or reputational damage," he said.

Mr Rockliff said there were various options for storing the vessels in the short term if they could not be leased out, including southern Tasmania, Malaysia and Scotland.

Plan for costly temporary berth upgrade scrapped 

Transport Minister Eric Abetz said a plan to temporarily upgrade berth one east at Devonport, which the government had previously been committed to, was no longer on the table because the options were deemed to be unsafe or commercially unviable.

"The simple fact is that the harbourmaster on the 14th of this month determined that option one would be unsafe," he said.

"In relation to option two, the commerciality of that was determined as such that it would not be a viable option and it would cost the Tasmanian public."

Infrastructure expert Ben Maloney, who co-authored a report into the feasibility of the temporary berth upgrade said it was only revealed to be unsafe in recent weeks.

"With the more comprehensive investigations of the simulation of how the vessels would move under various conditions … it was concluded that only a week or two ago that that option was unsafe because there was too high a risk of collision with the bollards and the like," he said.

"So that option was effectively taken off the table."

Moving private operator SeaRoad from Devonport's berth two east was also considered, but Mr Maloney said that would cost $60 million and cause great disruption to SeaRoad, and delays in loading and unloading the ships.

Mr Abetz stressed the two current Spirit of Tasmania vessels would continue to operate until the new ships were ready, and said a $26.5 million tourism industry assistance package would help to lessen the impact of the delays.

The package includes $6 million for fare subsidies and extra sailings, $5 million for local businesses to prepare for the arrival of the new ships, a $10 million tourism voucher scheme and a $5 million events attraction fund.

How did we get here?

The project to build two new Spirit of Tasmania vessels, and port infrastructure to house them in Devonport and Victoria, has been a long one plagued by delays and cost blowouts.

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Initially announced in 2017, the two new Spirits were supposed to arrive in Tasmania in 2021 and cost $714 million.

The German shipbuilder contracted to build the ships, FSG, went under, with TT-Line then landing on Finnish shipbuilder RMC to construct them.

But the government pulled out of the deal in 2020, just before that deal with RMC was due to be finalised, commissioning a taskforce to look into whether the ships could be built in Australia.

The government eventually went back to RMC, locking in a $850 million deal, where the first new ship was set to be completed in 2024.

There have been two extra payments made to RMC since then — an $81 million payment earlier this year after RMC experienced financial difficulties, plus an 8 million euro ($13 million) payment in April 2022 due to an increase in steel costs caused by the Ukraine war.

But delivering new port infrastructure in Devonport for the new ships to berth at has been a bigger issue.

A permanent home at berth three east was set to be completed in August this year, but is at least 18 months delayed.

It means the new vessels are due to be ready to sail well before the port is ready.

Bungled project collects scalps 

All parties involved in the project have traded accusations about who is to blame for the saga, and it's led to multiple key players standing down.

TT-Line chair Michael Grainger was forced to resign by the government in August, and chief executive Bernard Dwyer has announced he will also resign when his term expires in November.

TasPorts chair Steven Bradford has also resigned ahead of his term expiring in November.

Former infrastructure minister Mr Ferguson resigned from that portfolio in August to "end the blame game", and last week resigned from cabinet altogether after a majority of MPs said they would support a no-confidence motion against him.

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