Spirit of Tasmania
Spirit of Tasmania II
Spirit of Tasmania has been part of the name of four different ships which have served as tourist passenger/vehicle ferries on Bass Strait, between Tasmania and the Australian mainland. The ships have all been owned and operated by the Tasmanian Government operated TT-Line.
The first ship, Spirit of Tasmania started sailing in 1993. It sailed three return trips a week to between Devonport, Tasmania and Melbourne, Victoria. The crossings were overnight and took approximately 15 hours.
In 2002, Spirit of Tasmania was de-commissioned. It was replaced with two ships Spirit of Tasmania I and Spirit of Tasmania II, which were purchased from SuperFast ferries in Greece - formerly Superfast III and Superfast IV. They travel the same Devonport-Melbourne route, however each ship makes one trip each night, taking only ten hours. In peak periods, the ships also make day crossings.
The fourth ship Spirit of Tasmania III began service in 2004. It is also a SuperFast ferry, formerly called Superfast II. It is a slightly smaller ship than the other two ferries in service. It travels a new route, the Devonport-Sydney route. It makes a one-way trip each day, which takes approximately 20 hours.