Port Botany News

The three crew members of the SL Diamantina, who saved 21 lives and averted an environmental disaster in July 2022, have received an Exceptional Bravery at Sea commendation from the IMO.The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) nominated Brad Lucas (Master), Alex Alsop (Deckhand), and Marius Fenger (Engineer), for their extraordinary efforts in saving the lives of the crew on board the MV Portland Bay and preventing an environmental disaster on the shores of the world’s second oldest national park…

A Singaporean-flagged containership went adrift after suffering a power failure before midnight on October 20 off Australia's New South Wales coast.The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said it tasked the specialized emergency towing vessel ETV Svitzer Glenrock from Newcastle to provide towing assistance to the disabled box ship Rio Madeira, which was en route from Singapore with 27 crewmembers on board. The Svitzer Glenrock arrived at the location of the stricken containership about 75 kilometers south of Narooma at 3 p.m.

Australian authorities are reporting a record seizure of methylamphetamine after another metric ton of the illicit drug was discovered at Sydney's Port Botany.The development comes after detectives attached to the State Crime Command's Drug and Firearms Squad earlier this year commenced Strike Force Chellington to investigate the importation of illicit drugs into New South Wales.Acting on intelligence, Australian Border Force (ABF) officers examined a number of sea cargo containers, which had arrived into Port Botany last month.

Australian law enforcement has seized 700 kilograms of cocaine from a Maersk containership at Sydney's Port Botany.The dugs were discovered by Australian Border Force (ABF) during a July 22 inspection of shipping containers on the Singapore-flagged Maersk Inverness, which had docked a day earlier. The haul was found packaged in denim bags inside a shipping container described as containing wood products.AFP investigators seized 28 denim bags, each holding about 25kg of cocaine in brick form.

Authorities have made a major drug bust from a containership bound for Australia.Earlier this month, Australian Federal Police (AFP) were tipped that the containership MSC Joanna allegedly contained a large quantity of cocaine on board, and authorities tracked the vessel as it made its way to Sydney.Through Maritime Border Command, ABF officers provided ongoing monitoring of the vessel, including planning the aerial and on-water response. Aerial surveillance observed a man launching a small vessel from Taren Point and meeting the MSC Joana off the coast of Sydney before sunrise on March 11. Police allege 11 green lidded crates containing 199 blocks of cocaine were offloaded from the cargo vessel at sea and transported to the smaller vessel…

An oil tanker is being held off the coast of Australia pending the results of crew COVID-19 tests.The Hong Kong-flagged Haruna Express was denied permission to enter Sydney's Port Botany and ordered to remain offshore following reports stating a number of crew members on board had been displaying coronavirus symptoms. The vessel will not be allowed entry into the New South Wales port until negative results are confirmed for all crew members, local authorities said.On Thursday, NSW Police Force’s Marine Area Command deployed Police Launch WP25 to deliver COVID-19 test kits to the 28,000-tonne tanker, which was situated 3 nautical miles off the coast of Sydney and awaiting clearance to dock.The ship…

Dozens of containers lost from a ship at sea have been recovered off the coast of Australia as the country's maritime authority continues to press the vessel's owner to pay the $11 million cleanup costs.The 63 boxes plucked from the bottom of the Tasman Sea are among more than 80 lost from Yang Ming's containership YM Efficiency about 20 miles from shore in June 2018. The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) says it stepped in to handle the cleanup operations after the…

Australia's NSW Ports launched its new Sustainability Hub and 2019 Sustainability Plan, detailing its performance across environmental, social, economic and governance measures and outlining its proactive strategy and actions for the next three years.NSW Ports CEO Marika Calfas welcomed the launch, and reiterated the company’s commitment to embedding a Port-wide culture of sustainability: “At NSW Ports, we manage the key trade gateways that connect the people and businesses of NSW to global markets. Our vision is to be a world class port and logistics manager, driving sustainable growth.“Sustainability is integral not only to our business but to the long-term success of the supply chains in which we operate.

Kalmar, part of Cargotec, and Navis, part of Kalmar Business Area within Cargotec, have been awarded the contract to supply a state-of-the-art, fully automated intermodal terminal solution for Qube's Moorebank Logistics Park (MLP) in south-western Sydney. The order, valued at approximately EUR 80 million, includes the supply of the OneTerminal solution comprising Kalmar's automated train handling, automated yard crane and automated horizontal transportation equipment and the Navis N4 terminal operating system (TOS). It was booked into Cargotec's 2018 second quarter order intake. The manual operations at the Moorebank facility are due to commence in Q1 of 2019.

A Taiwan-owned cargo ship docked safely in Sydney on Wednesday after losing 83 containers off the coast of Australia during a massive storm which saw the ship battered by five metre (15 feet) swells.The YM Efficiency limped into Sydney with a container hanging halfway off its side. It had arrived off Sydney four days earlier but was kept out at sea because the city's main port was closed due to bad weather.The challenge for port operators is to unload the remaining 26 damaged containers without the rest toppling into Port Botany.The Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp owned containership was travelling from Taiwan to Sydney when it sailed into a major storm about 30 kms (18 miles) off the country's east coast…

NSW Ports has successfully deployed Advent’s eModal wharfage module for Port Botany in Sydney and Port Kembla in Wollongong, says Advent Intermodal Solutions, a leading provider of IT-based intermodal solutions. The wharfage solution is part of eModal’s Port Community System (PCS) solutions suite. The SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) implementation is part of NSW Ports’ comprehensive plan to transition port operations from legacy IT systems to a new IT environment where Advent’s plug ‘n play, SaaS-based, eModal wharfage module complements NSW Ports’ plan. NSW Ports is a privately owned company that developed the plan when in 2013 it acquired through public tender a 99-year lease to manage and develop Port Botany and the Port Kembla port assets from the NSW Government.

Sydney Ports advises that all pilotage services have been suspended at Port Botany from 0630 hours local time September 23, and at Sydney (Port Jackson) from 0730, due strong winds and high swells of up to 7 meters. Sydney Ports advises that all pilotage services have been suspended at Port Botany from 0630 September 23 , and at Sydney (Port Jackson) from 0730  September 23 due to strong winds and high swells, up to 7 meters. The ports will remain closed until further assessment Early September 24. Newcastle shipping movements are currently restricted pending assessments of conditions. The port remains under “Heavy Harbor Entrance”. All movements are being assessed consecutively, vessels have been able to sail out during today, but some inwards movements have been delayed.

A picket of Hutchison ports in Sydney and Brisbane has entered fourth day after the Maritime Workers Union vowed to continue defying a Fair Work order to cease industrial action. The picketers say that the power to the site has been cut in a bid to move them off. At least 29 unions have been picketing the Hutchison Ports Australia site since the company sacked 97 workers in Brisbane and Sydney via text message and email four days ago, reports The News. Maritime Union of Australia Queensland state secretary Bob Carnegie says the company has now cut power to a substation near their site to try to break the picket. “That’s the sort of animals we’re dealing with,” he told picketers. Protesting workers have refused to unload the cargo ship to arrive at Hutchison Port operations.

Infuriated workers have formed picket line at Hutchison Ports in Botany, NSW after 97 employees from Sydney and Brisbane were sacked by email. Hutchison Ports Australia operates as Brisbane Container Terminals in Queensland. Brisbane port workers woke Friday morning to discover they had been sacked overnight, with Hutchison Ports Australia alerting them to the news via text message. The sent out a message to more than 40 workers just before midnight, stating the worker had been sacked and there would be "no redeployment opportunities". "You are not required for your allocated shift, please disregard your most recent work orders, you are not required on shift until further notice," the text message sent to 41 Brisbane workers said.

Kalmar, part of Cargotec, played a successful role in delivering an automated straddle carrier solution to Patrick Stevedores' during their recent automation of Port Botany container terminal in Sydney, Australia. The conversion from manual operations at Port Botany was made in only four days, setting a benchmark for the whole container terminal industry. Patrick's Port Botany is now the world's second fully-automated AutoStrad(TM) terminal, operating with 45 Kalmar AutoStrads and real time control systems. It follows the automation success of Patrick's Fisherman Island terminal in Brisbane, which was converted to an automated straddle carrier operation in 2005.

A slow moving low pressure system is bringing severe weather conditions off the New South Wales coast, prompting port closures at Port Kembla and Sydney and the imposition of restrictions in Newcastle. Port Kembla remains closed with monitoring of the port entrance to continue. The port will re-open when conditions ease, which may not be until Thursday 23 April. In the Sydney area, Port Botany and Port Jackson have been closed since 0800 of 21 April. Monitoring will continue, but the ports could remain closed for next 48 hours. The port entrance at Newcastle will be set as Heavy with selected restrictions in place for up to the next 12-36 hours, pending further inspections.

Liebherr Container Cranes has recently completed the testing of articulated boom cranes in its Killarney facility in Ireland. The complete articulated boom and main beam of one of the cranes for Port Botany was assembled in Liebherr Container Cranes facility on a special test bed, where it was tested. This articulated boom design allows these large cranes to operate within the height restrictions prevailing at Port Botany, due to its close proximity to Sydney airport, Liebherr said.

Three of Australia's largest infrastructure funds plan to bid for the country's largest container terminal in a sale expected to fetch about A$5 billion ($4.27 billion) for Victoria state, a source with knowledge of the process said on Wednesday. The prospect of three bidders suggests Victoria, Australia's second most populous state, will reap a hefty price for the asset and encourage other Australian states looking to sell a combined A$130 billion of assets in the next 18 months. Pension fund IFM Investors has hired investment banks JPMorgan Chase & Co and Barclays Capital to prepare a bid for Port of Melbourne, while a consortium of Hastings Funds Management Ltd and Kuwait sovereign fund Wren House Infrastructure Management have hired UBS AG, the source said.

Hastings Funds Management and China Merchants Group have won a state government auction for a 98-year lease on Australia's Port of Newcastle, the world's biggest coal export terminal, paying a higher-than-expected A$1.75 billion ($1.6 billion). An initial New South Wales state budget plan had valued the lease on the port terminal at A$700 million, but fierce competition for Australian infrastructure assets coming on to market has seen a steady rise in multiples paid. The winning bid for Newcastle port came in at 27 times earnings, matching the 27 times earnings Transurban Group, Australia's biggest toll road owner, paid last week for a Queensland state toll road firm.

Sydney Ports has informed that it will amend the Statutory Port Charges. A 9.64% increase in Statutory Charges for Navigation Services, Pilotage and Site Occupation for Non-Passenger Vessels will come into effect for all commercial ships and related cargo arriving at Sydney ports (Gore Bay, Port Botany and Kurnell) from 1 July 2014. Sydney Ports says it wrote to port users last month, notifying them of the updated charges.   GAC Australia

A Port Tariff increase will come into effect for New South Wales ports covering Sydney (Gore Bay, Port Botany and Kurnell) from August 1, 2014, GAC reported in its daily Hot Port News report. Sydney Ports has determined that an increase in Statutory Charges of 9.64% is required for all commercial ships and related cargo arriving in the port to help cover navigation services, pilotage and site occupation for non-passenger vessels. Source: GAC

Inchcape Shipping Services (ISS) Australia is advising that Sydney and Port Botany have been closed to all shipping movements since 22:00hrs yesterday evening until further notice, due to storm force winds and swell at the pilot boarding grounds. A small intense low pressure system is currently located off the New South Wales coast near Sydney and the Hunter district and is moving slowly northwards with an associated trough. Gale to storm force southerly winds and large seas are extending along the coast behind the trough. The low and trough will move slowly further offshore during Wednesday with an associated gradual easing in the winds. A high pressure system will move across southern New South Wales by Friday, bringing more stable conditions for the later part of the week.

Australia's Victoria state government said it may sell Port of Melbourne, the country's largest container and general cargo port, continuing a rush by states to sell major assets to fund new infrastructure projects. Victorian Treasurer Michael O'Brien said the government will commission a scoping study into the potential sale of Port of Melbourne and a second port, in a deal local media said may net about A$5 billion ($4.5 billion). The study will be completed before the May state budget. State governments are selling ports, power stations and roads to fund billions of dollars worth of new infrastructure. New South Wales state sold Port Botany and Port Kembla a year ago for A$5 billion and hopes to sell Port of Newcastle in 2014 for an expected A$700 million.