Website crashes due to demand for Spirit of Tasmania bookings - ABC News & Headlines – Australian Broadcasting Corporation

People who logged into the Spirit of Tasmania booking site were met with loading and error messages. (www.spiritoftasmania.com.au)

New tickets for Spirit of Tasmania IV and V have gone on sale, with high demand causing the booking system to temporarily crash.

Tickets are now available for pet-friendly cabins and previously sold-out sailing dates between Geelong and Devonport.

The website states the planned inaugural passenger sailing on October 31 is not confirmed with details to be released soon.

The Spirit of Tasmania website has crashed this morning as highly-anticipated tickets for the new Spirits IV and V were released for sale.

Tickets were set to go live at 10am but a notice on the website said it was experiencing high demand for bookings and users had been placed in a queue.

There was high demand as soon as the tickets went on sale.  (www.spiritoftasmania.com.au)

At 11am, bookings were able to be viewed but not completed, causing an error message to pop up.

An error message appeared before customers could complete their bookings.  (www.spiritoftasmania.com.au)

The booking site would not load for some customers. (www.spiritoftasmania.com.au)

Before today, tickets were only sold to the capacity of the previous Spirit vessels, and bookings were only available up to June 6, 2027.

With many sailing dates booked up until the end of the year, today's release included increased capacity on sold-out sailings, cheap fares and the first tickets for the new pet-friendly cabins.

The new Spirits will have increased capacity for caravans. (www.spiritoftasmania.com.au)

Spirits IV and V are set to start sailing the Bass Strait from October 31 after a years-long saga to replace the aging Spirits I and II, which have been sailing between Victoria and Tasmania since 2002.

Delays and cost blowouts have plagued the rollout of the new ferries.

These included an $81 million bailout to a Finnish shipbuilder, and revelations that a new wharf in Devonport had ballooned in cost.

Operator TT-Line says the new ships will feature 301 cabins, carry an additional 470 passengers, and have three times the capacity for caravans.

Yesterday, TT-Line chief executive Chris Carbone described it as a new era.

A new Spirit of Tasmania ship passes one of the older, smaller ferries. (Supplied: TT-Line)

Government minister Jo Palmer said she was delighted to see such high demand.

"Isn't it just wonderful to hear that the incredible interest that has been shown now we are open and able to be taking tickets for the Spirit of Tasmania with the new ships?" she said.

"In regard to how the system is holding up, I'm sure there are a lot of people frantically working on that right now, but we are so excited at the level of interest that has come to our new Spirits."

TT-Line has been contacted for comment.

Mornington Peninsula resident Jen Graham has been refreshing the website since 10am and finally secured tickets at 1pm.

She said she had been keenly awaiting the new allocation to help get her son and his car to university in Launceston.

"For a company that so heavily promoted and advertised this process, how on earth were they not prepared for the influx of bookings?" she asked.

Central Highlands resident Yvette Baker was unable to book tickets.

"It's just frustrating to plan for Christmas time as there aren't many bookings."

A resident who did not want to be named from Prospect Vale in Launceston was able to book tickets for her and her partner, car and caravan in June next year after waiting for the date to become available.

"It was an awful experience," they said. "It's been very, very stressful.

"So many people are stressed about Christmas and their pets. I'm very relieved."