Toll Christens Cargo Ship for Australian Bass Strait Route

Global logistics provider Toll officially named the first of two new 700 TEU ships for the Australian Bass Strait route.

Named Tasmanian Achiever II, the ship was described by Toll as the “largest general cargo ship to fly the Australian flag.”

The 210-meter vessel, which was handed over in November 2018, is set to enter service on March 1, 2019. Victorian Reliance II, the second of the two ships, will be officially named in Melbourne, ahead of its first voyage across the Bass Strait on March 1, 2019.

Toll has purchased the two ships to carry freight between the Australian mainland and Tasmania, increasing the company’s Bass Strait cargo capacity by more than 40 percent on each voyage.

“As the country’s largest private investment in coastal trading in 25 years, this is a major milestone for Australian shipping with Tasmanian Achiever II providing capacity to meet anticipated demand for the next two decades,” said Steve Borg, Toll’s executive general manager, Tasmania and shipping.

Fitted with on-board scrubbers to filter emissions, Tasmanian Achiever II will meet standards on sulphur emissions which will be introduced in January 2020 by the International Marine Organisation (IMO).

In addition to acquiring the two ships, Toll has invested AUD 35 million (USD 25 million) to upgrade wharf facilities at the Port of Burnie, Tasmania. In port, the new ships will connect to the local power grid, eliminating the need to generate power by using their diesel engines.

Tasmanian Achiever II will replace Tasmanian Achiever I, when the 20-year-old ship is retired from the route.