Melissa Cunningham’s dog transportation business depends on her being able to book vehicles on the Spirit of Tasmania ferry each week.
But a shortage in space on the ships for tall vehicles is making The Dog Transporter unviable.
“We’re virtually going to shut it down. It’s just impossible to get spots on the Spirit,” she said.
“This week we’ve got one vehicle on — we could have filled up three.”
Melissa Cunningham’s dog transportation business is scaling down because she hasn’t been able to secure enough spots on the Spirit of Tasmania. (Supplied)
Long wait times to book spots for large vehicles on the Spirit of Tasmania have frustrated travellers and business owners, amid delays and cost blowouts for two new larger vessels.
While the first of the new ships has already been completed, the new ferries are not expected to be operational until 2026 due to delays to berthing facilities in Devonport.
Ms Cunningham had been banking on the new, larger Spirits to keep her business going.
“We’d be still running if they had those up and running. We could have got vehicles on,” Ms Cunningham said.
Tasmanian couple almost stranded for eight months
Christine and Brian Bodger, who live in Dover in the state’s south, were travelling with a caravan on the mainland when they experienced car issues in August this year.
When Brian and Christine Bodger looked at changing their return date, the next available booking was in seven months. (Supplied)
They tried to push out their return trip to Tasmania to allow time for their vehicle to be fixed, but found the next available spot for a car and caravan wasn’t until March — in seven months’ time.
“We had considered perhaps leaving the car somewhere and coming back at a later date and buying another car in order to get home on the sixth of October with the caravan,” Ms Bodger said.
Luckily, their car was repaired in time to come home on their original booking.
“Had we been stranded on the mainland for six months, it would have been a fairly big imposition on us — storage of cars and caravans and probably flying home and flying back up to get them later on,” Mr Bodger said.
He believes given the number of people travelling with caravans, the difficulties in getting a spot on the Spirit of Tasmania are harming local businesses and the tourism industry in Tasmania.
“We read the advertising all the time to come to Tasmania and see all our lovely country that we have and so on, and we think to ourselves, how can they get here?” he said.
“If the state wants tourism, it must supply the means for them to get here.”
Travellers to Tasmania struggling to find suitable times
The Spirit of Tasmania website urges travellers to book early during peak travel times such as summer and school holidays and for those with motorhomes, caravans and campervans.
Numerous people told the ABC they had no issues securing a spot on the Spirit with a large vehicle when booking well in advance of travel.
Arianna Boreham and her family got a spot for their car and caravan on the Spirit of Tasmania by entering the wait list. (Supplied)
But that’s not always possible.
When Arianna Boreham landed a nursing contract in Hobart, she went to book the Spirit of Tasmania ferry so she and her family could make the move from Brisbane.
Attempting to book three months in advance to get to Tasmania in late August, there were no spots available for them to travel with their car and caravan before she was scheduled to start her new job.
They got on the cancellation list and through that, managed to secure a sailing for a month before Ms Boreham was due to start work — but the timing didn’t line up with the end date for her Brisbane job.
“I couldn’t go because it was still when I was working,” she said.
She was able to get a spot for herself a week after the rest of her family set sail with the caravan.
“It was very inconvenient, because my husband had to drive with three kids on his own and the caravan down to Geelong and then spend a week in Tasmania without me,” she said.
New Spirits have more space for vehicles
Currently, the booking website shows there is no availability from Geelong to Devonport for a motorhome that is 10-metres long and 2.1-metres high until March, and no return trips until June.
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But the new Spirit of Tasmania vessels will be longer, taller and wider.
Details released by ferry operator TT-Line show the passenger capacity will increase from 1,400 to 1,800 and the number of cabins will rise from 222 to 301.
There will also be a 60 per cent increase in vehicle lanes for passengers and freight vehicles.
Unlike the current ships, all lanes will be tall enough for caravans and campervans.
Finnish shipbuilder Rauma Marine Constructions has completed the first of the two new vessels, but the ship must start its journey towards Tasmania by November to avoid being iced in over the northern hemisphere winter.
The second ship is scheduled to be finished by early next year.
The existing berths at Devonport are too small for the new Spirits. (ABC News: Morgan Timms)
An upgraded berth at Devonport is expected to house the larger Spirits, but its rollout has faced a series of delays.
The state government’s stop-gap solution to upgrade the existing berths used by the smaller Spirits so the new ships could dock, has raised safety concerns and has also been delayed.
The government commissioned a report into the issues with the Devonport berthing facilities, which it received last Friday.
The report is expected to outline the cost of the temporary port upgrade and construction timings, as well as an assessment on storing the boats overseas until permanent infrastructure is ready.
Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff said the report was being considered and he would “outline the plan forward” on Thursday this week.
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