Tasmania said it is considering building two replacement ropax ferries at home rather than in Europe in a new environment of nearshoring brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.

In February, TT-Line, the ferry owner controlled by the Australian state, switched its order for two 48,000-gt ropax ferries from troubled German shipbuilder Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft (FSG) to Finnish shipbuilder Rauma Marine Constructions.