Transport in New Zealand, with its mountainous topography and a relatively small population mostly located near its long coastline, has always faced many challenges. Before Europeans arrived, Māori either walked or used watercraft on rivers or along the coasts. Later on, European shipping and railways revolutionised the way of transporting goods and people, before being themselves overtaken by road and air, which are nowadays the dominant forms of transport. However, bulk freight still continues to be transported by coastal shipping and by rail transport, and there are attempts to (re)introduce public transport as a major transport mode in the larger population centres.
Transportation in Puerto Rico includes a system of roads, highways, freeways, airports, ports and harbors, and railway systems, serving a population of approximately 4 million year-round. It is funded primarily with both local and federal government funds.
A ferry is a boat that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus.
Bass Strait is a strait separating the island state of Tasmania from the Australian mainland. The strait provides the most direct waterway between the Great Australian Bight and the Tasman Sea, and is also the only maritime route into the economically prominent Port Phillip Bay.
Devonport is a port city situated at the mouth of the Mersey River on the north-west coast of Tasmania, Australia. Positioned 47 kilometres (29 mi) east of Burnie and 98 kilometres (61 mi) north of Launceston, its harbour manages over half of Tasmania's imports and exports, standing as the busiest freight port on the island. Devonport also plays a pivotal role in Tasmania's trade sector, supporting industries such as agriculture, manufacturing, and tourism. The City of Devonport's gross domestic product (GDP) was estimated at $3.5b in 2023.
DFDS is a Danish international shipping and logistics company. The company's name is an abbreviation of Det Forenede Dampskibs-Selskab. DFDS was founded in 1866, when C.F. Tietgen merged the three biggest Danish steamship companies of that day.
The Bass Strait Triangle is the waters that separate the states of Victoria and Tasmania, including Bass Strait, in south-eastern Australia. The term Bass Strait Triangle appears to have been first used following the disappearance of Frederick Valentich in 1978 although the region had a bad reputation long before that.
HMAS Jervis Bay was a roll-on/roll-off passenger and vehicle ferry operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) between 1977 and 1994.
TT-Line Company Pty Ltd, trading as Spirit of Tasmania, is a Tasmanian Government-owned business that has been offering ferry services between mainland Australia and Tasmania since July 1993. Navigating the Bass Strait, Spirit of Tasmania ferry services cover a distance of 242 nautical miles between Geelong, Victoria and Devonport, Tasmania. Each journey across the "Sea Highway" takes approximately 9–11 hours in both directions.
Australian National Line (ANL) was a coastal shipping line established by the Government of Australia in 1956. It was sold in 1998 by the Howard government to CMA CGM.
MS Princess of Tasmania was an Australian-built roll-on/roll-off passenger ship. She was built by the State Dockyard in Newcastle, New South Wales for the Australian National Line. Laid down on 15 November 1957, she was launched on 15 December 1958. As built, the ship had a tonnage value of 3,964 gross register tons (GRT), was 113.32 metres (371.8 ft) long, had a beam of 17.73 metres (58.2 ft), and a draught of 4.74 metres (15.6 ft). Two 9-cylinder Nydquist & Holm Polar M69TS diesels supplied 8,600 horsepower (6,400 kW) to the propellers, allowing a maximum speed of 17.75 knots. Up to 334 passengers and 142 vehicles could be carried. Princess of Tasmania was given the IMO number: 5284986. The ship was the first RO/RO passenger ship in the southern hemisphere, and at the time of launch, the largest vessel built in Australia.
HMS Nairana was a passenger ferry that was requisitioned by the Royal Navy (RN) as a seaplane carrier in 1917. She was laid down in Scotland in 1914 as TSS Nairana for the Australian shipping line Huddart Parker, but construction was suspended after the outbreak of the First World War. Following resumption of work, the ship was launched in 1915, and converted to operate wheeled aircraft from her forward flying-off deck, as well as floatplanes that were lowered into the water. She saw service during the war with the Grand Fleet, and in 1918–19 supported the British intervention in the Russian Civil War.
The Grimaldi Group is a private shipping company owned by the Grimaldi family and based in Naples, Italy. Grimaldi operates a large fleet of ro-ro, ro-ro/multipurpose, con-ro multipurpose, PCTC, ro-pax and cruise ferries vessels.
Bass Strait Ferries have been the ships that have been used for regular transport across Bass Strait between Tasmania and Victoria in mainland Australia, as well as the various attempts to link Tasmania with Sydney. Historically, some regular shipping services in the twentieth century linked Sydney, Melbourne and Hobart with the Bass Strait ports: Launceston's various port locations, Devonport and Burnie. The distinction between coastal shipping and Bass Strait ferry has been blurred at times.
The Tasmanian Freight Equalisation Scheme is an Australian Government scheme to provide financial assistance to shippers of freight between Tasmania and mainland Australia. The scheme aims to assist in alleviating the sea freight cost disadvantage incurred by shippers of eligible non‐bulk goods moved between Tasmania and the mainland of Australia. It provides a freight subsidy to producers selling into Australian domestic markets, but not for exports outside of Australia.
The Straitsman was a Bass Strait 720-ton roll-on/roll-off ferry livestock carrier. Built by NQEA, Cairns for RH Houfe & Co, it was launched on 29 January 1972. It was built to operate between Melbourne, King Island and Stanley.
The Vanino–Kholmsk train ferry is the ferry connection across the Strait of Tartary in Russia that connects Vanino in Khabarovsk Krai and Kholmsk in Sakhalin Oblast. This ferry connects Sakhalin Island with mainland Russia and its distance is 260 km. It is operated by Sakhalin Shipping Company.
The Bass Strait Passenger Vehicle Equalisation Scheme (BSPVES) is an Australian Government initiative that offers uncapped federal funding to subsidise the cost of ferry travel across Bass Strait. This scheme primarily supports services operated by the Tasmanian Government-owned TT-Line Company Pty Ltd, linking the state of Victoria on the Australian mainland with the island state of Tasmania. The BSPVES also includes provisions for commuters who must fly between mainland Australia and King Island or the Furneaux Group due to the absence of ferry services.
SeaRoad Holdings Pty Ltd is an Australian company specialising in sea freight and transport services. It primarily operates in the maritime sector, providing shipping operations between the Australian mainland and the island state of Tasmania. Generally known as SeaRoad Shipping, or simply SeaRoad, the company offers services such as freight transportation and logistics solutions to support the movement of goods across the Sea Highway. The company is recognised for its fleet of vessels and its focus on efficiency and reliability in its transport services.
