The Hodgman Liberal Government is getting on with the job and delivering on a number of initiatives to help build the future of the King Island community.
I am pleased to announce that the new $10 million ship, the John Duigan, will commence service from Friday 4 May.
The King Island community will now have access to a reliable service, with the vessel specially tailored to meet King Island’s freight needs. This includes the transportation of fertiliser directly from Geelong in Victoria to King Island.
The John Duigan is larger and faster than its predecessor the Investigator II, with 83% increased deck space, 90% increase in container capacity and 20% increase in running speed
The vessel is also substantially better sea-state handling in Bass Strait and cannot be recalled out of service because it has been purchased outright by Bass Island Line (BIL).
The John Duigan will operate a weekly schedule which will see it depart Geelong on Sunday for Grassy then on to mainland Tasmania before returning to Geelong.
While BIL has chosen Bell Bay as the mainland Tasmanian port for service start up it is the intention for Burnie to be the dedicated port for the service in the medium term once the right infrastructure is in place.
The livestock port for the John Duigan will be Devonport until Burnie is made ready, with Stanley being used for the next few weeks.
I thank everyone at BIL and TasPorts for their tremendous efforts in bringing John Duigan into service in a very short space of time. My thanks also to the King Island Shipping group and businesses on the island for their ongoing cooperation.
More information on the service, is available at: https://bassislandline.com.au/