[5] The museum sets out to chart, document and display materials and artefacts related to that history.

The Tasmanian Government decided to sell Secheron House in 1999, and the Museum took the opportunity to relocate and develop into a major educational institution and public attraction.

[10] The new expanded and modern renovated Carnegie building was opened as the Maritime Museum of Tasmania by Queen Elizabeth II on 28 March 2000.

A 1.3 m sandstone statue from about 1836 satirising Van Diemen's Land governor George Arthur, believed to have been carved by Daniel Herbert due to the style matching that of his Ross Bridge carvings, was donated in 2023 to the museum.

Arthur is standing, holding his penis, as a statue with plumbing arrangements thought to be part of a fountain.