Tasmanian state-owned ferry operator TT-Line’s order for two large, fast ropaxes at Germany’s Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft (FSG) is dead in the water.

After months of speculation the Tasmanian governments ‘s Infrastructure Minister Michael Ferguson has announced that TT-Line and FSG have mutually agreed to cancel the contract for the two 48,000-gt ropax ferries that were scheduled for delivery in 2021.

Ferguson said a memorandum of understanding has been signed between TT-Line and Finnish shipbuilder Rauma Marine Constructions with target dates of late 2022 for the first ship and late 2023 for the second.