Spirit of Tasmania I was built in 1998 by Kvaerner Masa-Yards in Finland. They have a displacement weight of almost 30,000 tonnes and a length of 194.3 metres. Spirit of Tasmania I cross Bass Strait at a cruising speed of 27 knots which is the equivalent of 50 kilometres per hour. The 429 kilometre voyage across Bass Strait is roughly twice the distance by road between Devonport and Strahan, on Tasmania's west coast.