With some grey nomads having to wait months to get a crossing from Tassie back to the mainland, no one wants to refuse a sailing … but many travellers will wish they had done exactly that earlier this week!
With huge waves and high winds, Monday’s Spirit of Tasmania crossings were pretty wild … with the voyage from Melbourne to Devonport described by passengers as absolute ‘carnage’.
A large semi-trailer was turned on its side and cars were smashed together as the nightmare voyage left passengers crossing their fingers and saying their prayers.
“The waves were smashing the ship and once or twice the vessel leaned heavily to the left and everything flew off the tables in the rooms,” passenger, Terry Schutz, told the Age newspaper. “There would have been no-one on that ship that was asleep after 5am.”
Spirit of Tasmania spokeswoman Madeleine Smith said that both Spirit of Tasmania vessels were delayed into Melbourne and Devonport because of rough weather and high winds.
“Some cargo and passenger vehicles shifted on the overnight crossing from Melbourne to Devonport,” she said. “Damage to vehicles is still being determined and the company is dealing directly with affected parties.”
No damage to the ship was recorded.
* Have you ever endured a rough ferry crossing? Would you ever refuse to board if the seas looked wild? Comment below
This is not the time of year to be crossing Bass Strait. The cold
weather fronts start to come through and can be quite severe. There probably isn’t a great window of time for reasonable weather across the Strait during the year anyway, not my idea of fun given the cost involved
Sad to read about all the damage caused to vehicles on the Spirit this week. We have travelled in December, February and March and seas have been relatively flat (lucky for us). My question is with regard to insurance cover for these events? Is the expectation that travellers claim on their own vehicle and van insurance company or are travellers covered by the Spirit’s insurance? I am not asking this question to start an argument, but just want to make sure we have our bases covered next time we travel to Tassie.