Shipping services
Passenger services
Freight services
The Tasmanian Ports Corporation Pty Ltd (TasPorts) is responsible for the operation and management of all ports in Tasmania.
TasPorts is a registered, private company fully owned by the Tasmanian Government. TasPorts' head office is at 48 Formby Road, Devonport. The company was created in January 2006 following the amalgamation of the State's four port companies - Hobart Ports Corporation Pty Ltd, Port of Launceston Pty Ltd, Port of Devonport Corporation Pty Ltd and Burnie Port Corporation Pty Ltd.
The cost of transporting passenger vehicles across Bass Strait is subsidised by the Bass Strait Passenger Vehicle Equalisation Scheme.
The Scheme includes ferry travel between:
- Devonport and Melbourne
- Flinders Island and Port Welshpool, Victoria
- Bridport and Port Welshpool, Victoria
- King Island and Melbourne (Toll Group) NB: This service carries vehicles only; passengers must travel on a commercial air service.
The TT-Line operates two vessels, Spirit of Tasmania I and II, providing a passenger and vehicular service across Bass Strait between East Devonport and Port Melbourne. The service offers both day and night sailings with a Bass Strait crossing time of approximately 9 to 11 hours.
The Southern Shipping Company Pty Ltd operates a sea freight and passenger service between Bridport (Tasmania), the Furneaux Group (Flinders and Cape Barren Islands) and to Port Welshpool (Victoria).
Toll Tasmania (Toll Group) provides a freight distribution service between mainland Australia and Tasmania. This service does not carry passengers.
Within Tasmania a vehicle and passenger ferry operates daily to Bruny Island between Kettering and Roberts Point. Two passenger services operate to Maria Island departing from Orford and Triabunna.
Tasmania is serviced by a number of regular domestic and international shipping services. 99.6% of Tasmania's interstate and international trade is by sea.
The major deep-water ports are:
All have facilities for containerised, bulk goods and general freight.
Regular general freight services run between Flinders Island and Bridport and between King Island, Devonport and Melbourne.
The main timetabled freight shipping providers in Tasmania are:
Freight charges may be obtained by contacting the shipping or freight logistics company.
For port, berthing, intermodal facility charges and shipping service timetables contact TasPorts (phone: 61 3 6421 4911).
An international container service to Singapore is operated out of Bell Bay / Launceston by the South-east Asian AAA consortium. From Singapore AAA member lines service other global destinations including Asia and Europe.
The Tasmanian Freight Equalisation Scheme, administered by Centrelink, provides financial assistance to shippers of freight between Tasmania and mainland Australia, to provide equal opportunities for Tasmanian industries to compete in mainland markets. The scheme now covers services between Flinders and King Islands and the Tasmanian mainland for eligible goods. It has both a northbound and southbound component. The southbound component applies only to equipment and raw materials of Australian origin used as inputs to the mining, manufacturing, agricultural, fishing and forestry industries in Tasmania.
Tasmania has an inbound and outbound market for both containerised and bulk goods. Tasmania's main exports include: fruit, vegetables, minerals, ores, woodchips, logs and paper.
This page - http://www.iris.tas.gov.au/infrastructure/transport/shipping_services - was last published on
5th June 2009 by the Department of Infrastructure, Energy and Resources, State of Tasmania. Questions concerning this site or its content can be submitted via the feedback form, by mail to GPO Box 936, Hobart, TAS, Australia, 7001 or by phoning +61 3 6233 5168.
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