Everything about The Port Of Melbourne totally explained
The
Port of Melbourne is
Australia's busiest port for containerised and general cargo. It is located in
Melbourne,
Victoria on the mouth of the
Yarra River, which is at the head of
Port Phillip Bay. It is owned by the
Port of Melbourne Corporation, a statutory corporation owned by the State of Victoria.
The majority of the port is in the suburb of
West Melbourne and shouldn't be confused with the Melbourne suburb of
Port Melbourne although Webb Dock, part of the Port of Melbourne, is in Port Melbourne.
Port Melbourne (or Sandridge as it was known until
1884) was a busy port early in the history of Melbourne, but declined as a cargo port with the development of the Port of Melbourne in the late
19th century. It retains Melbourne's passenger terminal however, with cruise ships and ferries using
Station Pier.
History
In the early days of Melbourne, large ships were unable to navigate the Yarra River so cargo destined for Melbourne was unloaded at either Hobsons Bay (now
Williamstown) or Sandridge and transferred either by rail or by cargo lighter to warehouses which were concentrated around King Street. This was an expensive and inefficient process.
In 1877, Victoria's colonial government resolved to make the Yarra more navigable and engaged English engineer
Sir John Coode to devise a solution. He decided to change the course of the river by cutting a canal to the south of the existing course of the river. This shortened it by a mile and made it much wider. It also created
Coode Island, a name still used today although the northern course of the river has long since disappeared. Ships were now able to sail as far up the river as Queensbridge where a turning basin was constructed.
Coode also oversaw the construction of Victoria Dock in swampland to the west of the city. This opened in 1889.
Over time the docks moved progressively downstream as ships became larger and road bridges were built across the Yarra. The construction of the
Spencer Street Bridge in
1928 and the Charles Grimes Bridge in
1975 each closed access to docks to the east. The
barque Polly Woodside lying in the old
Duke and Orr drydock and the warehouses of South Wharf are now the only reminders of the maritime history of this area.
Expansion
Development slowed during the
Great Depression and
World War II but resumed after the war with construction of Appleton Dock (
1956), Webb Dock (
1960) at the mouth of the Yarra and Swanson Dock, the first container terminal, on what was Coode Island.
Eventually Victoria Dock became too small to handle large container ships and was closed. Its fate was permanently sealed by the construction of the
Bolte Bridge, part of
CityLink, across its entrance in
1999. It now forms the centrepiece of the
Melbourne Docklands redevelopment.
In
1991 a large fire at the Coode Island bulk liquid handling facility blanketed much of Melbourne in toxic fumes. The public outrage forced the government to investigate relocating the facility. Point Lillias near
Geelong was considered. However due to the high cost involved and local opposition the facility has remained at Coode Island.
The Port of Melbourne was also the scene of a watershed
industrial battle in
1998 between
Patrick Corporation and the
Maritime Union of Australia (MUA).
Recently further controversy has resulted from plans to
dredge Port Phillip Bay to deepen shipping channels to allow larger ships into the Port of Melbourne. This process is expected to take up to a year to complete and will remove enough sand to construct a large island. Opposition to this project stems from potential environmental damage due to silting and loss of amenity for bayside residents due to the noise produced by the dredges.
In the future the Victorian Government will redevelop the Port of Melbourne to better integrate it with other modes of transport. The
Melbourne wholesale fruit and vegetable market will be relocated to
Epping and Footscray Road raised so that port users will have improved access to the rail facilities at South Dynon.
Facts and Figures
The Port of Melbourne is made up of the following:
- Swanson Dock West has four berths and is used for containerised cargo. It is managed by D.P.World a division of DUBAI WORLD
- Swanson Dock East has four berths and is used for containerised cargo. It is managed by Patrick Terminals.
- Appleton Dock berths B,C and D are used for general cargo. They are managed by D.P.World.
- Appleton Dock E is used for general cargo destined for or from Tasmania.
- Appleton Dock F is used for bulk dry cargo.
- Maribyrnong (Coode Island) is a bulk liquid facility.
- Webb Dock West is a roll-on-roll-off facility for motor vehicles. It is managed by Toll Stevedores.
- Webb Dock East 1 is managed by Toll Shipping for Tasmanian general cargo.
- Webb Dock East 2 is also for general Tasmanian cargo but managed by Patrick.
- Webb Dock East 3,4,5 are managed by Patrick for general and automotive cargo.
- Gellibrand Pier is operated by Mobil and has a direct pipeline to their refinery at Altona
- Holden Dock handles refined petroleum products.
- South Wharf berths 26 to 33 handle general cargo.
From May 2003 till May of 2004, approximately 3,400 ships from 42 different lines called at the Port of Melbourne. The port handled 64.4 million tonnes of cargo, including a throughput of of cargo.
Further Information
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