Sydney Ports News

A pair of new response vessels has been commissioned in Sydney Harbour.The state-of-the-art vessels, Burra and Girawaa, were designed by Incat Crowther and custom-built by Birdon in Port Macquarie to assist in major on-water incidents, including pollution response, police operations and firefighting both on and from the water.The vessels have the ability to travel at speeds of 27 knots, making them the fastest response vessels ever commissioned by the Port Authority of New South Wales (NSW).

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 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

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

An updated IBISWorld market research report reveals opportunities for growth in Australian port trades. According to IBISWorld industry analyst Caroline Finch, “IBISWorld forecasts compound annual revenue growth of 2.3% over the five years through 2012-13”. In the current year, the industry is expected to grow 7.0% to reach $3.39 billion. The report indicates that atrong growth in the value of total merchandise trade has been the primary driver behind the Port Operators industry's solid performance over the past five years. The value of merchandise trade exports has grown faster than the value of merchandise trade imports because of high demand for commodity exports. As more cargo moved through Australia's ports, the industry gained more opportunities to charge for its port services.

The New South Wales State Government plans to privatise Port Kembla & Port Botany to increase funds for infrastructure projects. Of the $500 million expected to be generated from the Port Kembla lease, $100 million will be spent on infrastructure in the Illawarra. The rest will be spent on other projects throughout the state. The port's potential privatisation was announced during last month's state budget. Sydney Ports Corporation will lose responsibility for most of the Port Botany precinct but will retain control of maritime security and emergency responses. The successful bidder should be known by December.

Botany Bay was replicated for an Australian-first marine emergency training exercise that Sydney Pilot Service commissioned for four of its pilots. The wholly owned subsidiary of Sydney Ports Corporation recently conducted the new commercial Advanced Manned Model Pilot Training program at the Australian Ship Handling Centre at Port Ash. Participants had to pilot model ships, 1/25th the size of an actual ship, through simulated emergencies within the replicated Botany Bay. The bay was recreated using buoys, beacons, piles and temporary wharf lines.

Strong winds and high seas forced authorities to close Sydney's port to passenger and cargo ships on Saturday. Winds of up to 59 mph lashed the coast of New South Wales state, bringing down power lines and unroofing a handful of homes. A Sydney Ports spokeswoman said swells of between 22 to 33 feet and wind gusts up to 35 knots inside Sydney Harbour forced the port's closure until at least Sunday. Australian Broadcasting Corp radio said the P&O passenger liner Pacific Sky, with about 1,500 passengers on board, was one of four ships forced to ride out the storm off Sydney. Police rescued four people from a 33-m (108-ft.) motor cruiser which sank in heavy swells and winds of up to 50 knots off Sydney late on Friday after it hit a submerged object.

Good planning, and not super high technology is the key to fighting tanker oil spills, Ian White, managing director of London-based International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation Ltd. said last week. "There are technological limitations as to what you can do (to control oil spills). He said in a speech most spills from tankers occurred during routine operations such as loading, discharging and bunkering. But bigger spills involving more than 700 tons have resulted from collisions and groundings, he said. "You can use booms and skimmers to concentrate the oil, pick it up and remove it, but it tends to be quite inefficient, especially if the weather is not good," White said.