Spirit of Tasmania IV launched from dry dock in Finland

The first of TT-Line’s two new Bass Strait ferries have hit the water in the faraway seas of Finland. Watch the ceremony.

New Spirit of Tasmania IV naming and launching ceremony in Finland. Picture: Janika Heikkonen

The first of TT-Line’s two new Bass Strait ferries hit the water on Friday night in the faraway seas of Finland.

The Spirit of Tasmania IV, built by Rauma Marine Constructions, at 212m long and 31m wide, will provide a larger capacity than the two current Spirit of Tasmania Bass Strait ferries.

TT-Line chairman Michael Grainger witnessed the ship’s launch from the Finnish dry dock and, despite some technical difficulties with live streaming the event, was excited to see the project, which began in 2021, move closer to completion.

“Both Spirit of Tasmania and RMC have invested significant time on this project, and to see that culmination of effort today in the official naming and launch of the vessel was truly rewarding,” he said.

Mr Grainger’s wife, Deborah, christened the vessel by breaking a bottle of Tasmanian sparkling wine on its bow in the long-held maritime tradition.

Plenty of work remains for the Spirit of Tasmania IV, with the boat remaining in Finland for the fit-out before TT-Line plans to take ownership in early 2024.

The new vessels will be equipped with up to $100m of Tasmanian and Australian content, with contracts already awarded to Tasmanian firms for hotel and catering equipment, carpet, arcade games, artwork and fire safety material.

Error code 404: Live stream not found

October 28: The Spirit of Tasmania’s new ferry launch turned into a nightmare when tech issues prevented broadcasting of the event on Friday.

A live stream of the launch of Spirit of Tasmania IV was spruiked on social media in the lead-up to the Friday night launch.

But many curious Tasmanians who tuned in were instead greeted by an error message, which said that due to a “technical difficulty”, the live stream was unavailable.

A previous stream of the dock holding the new vessel filling successfully made it online.

TT-Line was quick to apologise for the inconvenience and said a recorded version of the launch “would soon be posted”.

Disappointed viewers on the Apple Isle took to social media to share their frustrations.

“My family and I were set up to watch this live as if it were the AFL Grand Final,” one person wrote.

“We were looking forward to it for a long time and watching the countdown – disappointing,” said another.

Most commenters were able to see the humour in the situation though, wishing the Spirit a more “successful launch than the live stream”.

A spokesman for TT-Line on Saturday afternoon told the Mercury that the livestream would not be available until later this week.

Originally published as Spirit of Tasmania IV launched from dry dock in Finland