1985–1992 TT-Line (Tasmania) was formed in 1985 following the announcement that the
Australian National Line (ANL) would no longer operate a service across
Bass Strait with
Empress of Australia. After the cessation of ANL operations to Tasmania, the
Tasmanian Government's Department of Transport began a replacement ferry service, purchasing the West German ferry
Nils Holgersson (3) for $26 million. That amount was offset by a payment from the
Australian federal government in compensation for placing the environmentally-sensitive
Gordon River off-limits to
Hydro Tasmania power generation schemes. The
Nils Holgersson (3) was renamed
Abel Tasman on 21 April 1985, and set sail for Australia, she arrived in
Devonport on 20 June and began operating on 1 July 1985 from
Melbourne's
Station Pier.
1993–2001 In 1993, TT-Line Tasmania replaced the ageing
Abel Tasman with another ex
TT-Line ferry. The new ship,
Peter Pan (3), had replaced the former
Nils Holgersson (3) (now
Abel Tasman) on the
Travemünde to
Trelleborg route in Germany in 1986. The ship, which was delivered to
Lloyd Werft shipyard in September 1993 and was renamed
Spirit of Tasmania, cost the Government $150 million. The ferry left Germany on 5 October and arrived in Devonport 12 November. On 1 November 1993, operation of the service was transferred from the Tasmanian Department of Transport to TT-Line Pty Ltd, a
government business enterprise wholly owned by the Tasmanian Government.
Spirit of Tasmania made her first commercial crossing of
Bass Strait on the night of 29 November 1993 and on that morning
Abel Tasman was laid-up and offered for sale, which was completed in April 1994, to
Ventouris Ferries as
Pollux. While
Spirit of Tasmania was dry-docked in 1997, the TT-Line chartered a large multi-hull ferry,
Incat 045 (now
Condor Rapide), from
Incat, dubbing her
Tascat. She was used for two weeks as an experiment. In the peak season of 1997/98. TT-Line chartered
Incat 046 to operate as
Devil Cat from the old
SeaCat Tasmania terminal in
George Town to
Station Pier. TT-Line repeated this over the 1998/99 peak season with the new
Incat 050 Devil Cat (also marketed under the name
Devil Cat). In September 1999,
Spirit of Tasmania was forced out of action for two weeks due to fuel contamination, and TT-Line chartered the Incat 030
HSC Condor 10 which at the time was laid up in New Zealand as
Lynx. Once TT-Line arranged for the charter she immediately departed New Zealand and arrived in Tasmania two days later, and entered service to cover for
Spirit of Tasmania. Over the 1999/00 summer season, TT-Line again charted a fast craft while the former
Devil Cat Incat 046 was used on the Georgetown-Melbourne route during this peak period for three successive years.
2002–2006 '' enters her port of registry
Devonport In 2002, the Tasmanian Government and TT-Line announced that they would be replacing
Devil Cat and
Spirit of Tasmania with two Finnish built monohull ferries
Superfast III and
Superfast IV later that year from
Superfast Ferries. Both were handed over at the
Neorion shipyard on the island of
Syros where they had been refitted.
Superfast III was renamed
Spirit of Tasmania II and departed on 6 July and
Superfast IV renamed
Spirit of Tasmania I and departed 7 July. They set off for Australia both arriving in
Hobart 29 July where the final touches were put into place. After public inspections at Hobart, Melbourne and Devonport, the two new ships set sail on 1 September
Spirit of Tasmania I from Devonport and
Spirit of Tasmania II from Melbourne. Earlier that day
Spirit of Tasmania arrived in Melbourne for the last time, having crossed Bass Strait 2,849 times and carried a total of 2.3 million passengers, 807,000 cars and 185,000 containers.
Spirit of Tasmania departed Melbourne just before midnight on 5 September headed for
Sydney where she arrived on 7 September. In late December it was announced that the ship had been sold to
Fjord Line. '' on the
Mersey River,
Devonport In March 2003, it was announced that TT-Line would begin operating a third ship,
Spirit of Tasmania III, from Devonport to
Sydney in early 2004. The last service from Sydney to Tasmania operated by
Australian Trader had ceased in 1976. The new ship was also ex
Superfast Ferries having been built as
Superfast II in 1995.
Superfast II was handed over to TT-Line 30 September and went to the Nerion yard for refitting after the works and renaming to
Spirit of Tasmania III, she set off on the evening of 10 October. She arrived in Hobart on 30 October berthing No. 6 Macquarie wharf for more fitting-out to be done.
Spirit of Tasmania III set out for a voyage from Hobart to Devonport with 500 people aboard. She stayed in Devonport for a day and then moved on to Melbourne then to Sydney.
Spirit of Tasmania III debuted on the Sydney to Devonport run on 13 January 2004. On 5 June 2006, the Tasmanian government announced that the Sydney to Devonport service would cease on 28 August and the ship sold. It was announced 11 July 2006 that
Spirit of Tasmania III had been sold to
Corsica Ferries; she has now been renamed
Mega Express Four.
2017–present In December 2017, TT-Line announced it planned to replace its two existing ferries with new builds. The new vessels were to have a passenger capacity increase of 43% and freight capacity increase of 39% over the existing ferries. In January 2018, it was announced that the German
Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft (FSG) would build the two new vessels, with the first expected to enter service in 2021. In February 2020, it was announced that the contract with FSG had been mutually cancelled. A new contract for construction of the new ships was signed with
Rauma Marine Constructions of Finland. In July 2020, it was announced that the proposed contract with Rauma Marine Constructions would not proceed, due to uncertainty arising from the
COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, the Tasmanian government announced negotiations had resumed with Rauma Marine, with the contract being signed in April 2021. It was expected in late 2022 that the new vessels, and would arrive in Australia in late 2024 and early 2025 respectively. On 23 October 2022, TT-Line moved its Victorian terminal from Station Pier to a new facility at Spirit of Tasmania Quay,
Geelong. In June 2024
Spirit IV commenced sea trials. In September 2024, it was handed over by Rauma to TT-Line. On 14 August 2024 company chairman Michael Grainger resigned under pressure from the government over delays and cost blow-outs in the new ferries berths. In October 2024 it was reported that because of delays in the construction of an upgraded wharf at Devonport, the
Spirit IV was then scheduled to enter service in July 2026. The wharfs' construction cost was $90 million, but by 2024 had been revised up to $495 million. Berthing costs in Leith were reported to be about 47,000 per week. On 26 May 2025
Spirit IV was due to leave for Tasmania, but both new vessels had problems with their
liquefied natural gas systems, and could not leave until the issue was rectified. In June 2025,
Spirit of Tasmania V was handed over by the builder to TT Line while
Spirit of Tasmania IV arrived in Hobart in August 2025. In September 2025 it emerged that $9 million was needed to replace fenders at the new wharf at Devonport and strengthen
Spirit IV and
Spirit V as TT-Line has requested incorrect specifications to the wharf in 2023. In November 2025, it was reported that Martin Thompson, the Auditor-General of Tasmania, had made an assessment that Spirit of Tasmania was insolvent as of August 2025 and had reported its board to the
Australian Securities and Investments Commission. In response, the company's chairman Ken Kanofski stated that Spirit of Tasmania was solvent and state treasurer
Eric Abetz guaranteed that it would provide government support for it to continue to pay its debts. ==Fleet==