The ferry service Spirit of Tasmania has recently announced that it will be relocating its Victorian Port, originally at Station Pier in Port Melbourne, to Curio Quay located in the North of Geelong.

TT-Line, operator of the Spirit stated that the new site of 12 hectares will also be including a passenger terminal building, more efficient check-in of the passenger vehicle, public amenities, children’s play area, area for pet exercise, vehicle marshalling for about 600 cars, security facilities and food and beverage outlets.

For the record, the company had began working in the year 1985 and conducts around 800 sailings every year between two ferries. Mike Grainger, the chairman of TT-Line said that their move towards Geelong had offered the firm with an excellent opportunity to improve their passenger experience.

Grainger said that it will also be allowing room for the expansion of its freight offering in tandem with the rising demand in the forthcoming years. The operations of the ferry have been negatively affected by a major congestion across the greater Port of Melbourne area often, especially when the cruise ships happen to be in the port.

This usually leads to delay in both the loading and discharging of the passengers. The port base of Corio Quay is nearly 70 kilometers of the south-west of Port Melbourne that is an hour’s drive from the capital city.

Grainger further added that independent research of its passengers had recognized three of the main elements that supported the move from the port to Geelong. It has located in a place which is quite easy to get to and also has easy procedures of checking as well as less traffic while travelling to and from the terminal.

The Corio Quay solution tends to address all the three areas while alleviating the ongoing operational constraints that usually persists at the Station Pier. The changed route for the journey will not be adding extra time to the trip and the availability of better and enhanced efficiencies at the port shall save a lot of time.

Source Credit- https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-04-23/spirit-of-tasmania-moves-from-melbourne-to-geelong/12175868