A move to provide a direct shipping link between Tasmania, Australia, to Asia has been abandoned, at least in the short term.
The Tasmanian government said the decision to allow a memorandum of understanding with Singapore-based Swire Shipping to expire comes after a federal government AUD203 million (USD154 million) subsidy was extended to Tasmanian export container cargo currently transhipped out of Melbourne.
Formerly, the Australian government's Tasmanian Freight Equalisation Scheme (TFES) did not apply to international cargo. So in November the Tasmanian state government had offered Swire an AUD33 million subsidy to provide the southern island state an international freight link out of Bell Bay.