MS Spirit of Tasmania II

MS Spirit of Tasmania II is a roll-on/roll-off ferry operated by Spirit of Tasmania 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 Spirit of Tasmania as the 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	1998–2002: Superfast Ferries 2002 onwards: Spirit of Tasmania
Operator	1998–2002: Superfast Ferries 2003–2006: Spirit of Tasmania
Port of registry	1998–2002: Patras, Greece 2002 onwards: Devonport, Australia
Route	1998–2002: Patras–Ancona 2002-2022: Melbourne–Devonport 2022 onwards: Geelong–Devonport
Builder	Kvaerner Masa-Yards Turku New Shipyard, Finland
Yard number	1340[1]
Completed	1998
Identification	IMO number: 9158434[1] Call sign: VNSZ MMSI number: 503433000
Status	In service
General characteristics
Class & type	Superfast III class fast ropax ferry
Tonnage	29,338 GT[2] 5,651 DWT
Length	194.33 m (637 ft 7 in)
Beam	25.00 m (82 ft)
Draught	6.55 m (21 ft 6 in)
Installed power	4 × Sulzer 16ZA40S diesels 42,240 kW
Speed	30.8 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.^{[citation needed]}

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 Spirit of Tasmania.^[1]

2002 onwards: Spirit of Tasmania II

Spirit of Tasmania took over the ship on 10 May 2002.^[1] Along with her sister ship Superfast IV, she was handed over 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 the Melbourne to Devonport service.^[1][8]

Between 21 July and 8 August 2014 the ship was docked for maintenance at the Captain Cook Graving Dock in Sydney.^[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.

Spirit of Tasmania II and sistership Spirit of Tasmania I are scheduled to be replaced by the Spirit of Tasmania IV and Spirit of Tasmania V in 2026.^[14]