The vehicular ferry Empress of Australia made her first voyage from Sydney to Tasmania on 16 January 1965

Empress of Australia made its last trip between the mainland and Tasmania in 1986

Empress of Australia was replaced in 1986 by Abel Tasman, also a car ferry.

The ship was sold to Cypriot owners and heavily refitted and converted into a cruise ship, she was renamed Royal Pacific. On 23 August 1992, she was rammed by the Taiwanese fishing vessel Terfu 51 in the Straits of Malacca, and sank, resulting in thirty deaths.

The deaths are most likely attributed to the crew's choice to abandon ship first.

Source: Australian Maritime History