History of The Port

There are three major cities in Australia, namely Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane are straddle
along the east coast. Melbourne is in Victoria and. These three cities are the major commercial
hubs for the three states. Tourism is one of the major industries. Each one of them has different
offerings that draw thousands of tourists each year.
Melbourne has its Great Ocean Road, Phillip Island Nature Park and vineyards in the Yarra
Valley. Melbourne is also the gateway to Tasmania by ferry. Hotel in Melbourne is always
difficult to book during the peak season.
History of the port

The history and development of the Port of Melbourne
is intimately linked to the development of the city
itself. Considering that the Port Phillip settlement
wasn’t authorised by Governor Bourke until 1836, the
development of Melbourne and its port has been rapid
and dynamic.
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The first people

The newcomers
Early problems
The Melbourne Harbor Trust
Victoria Dock
World War II
Modern times
The first people
When James Cook, captain of The Endeavour, first
sighted the Victorian coast in 1770, aborigines had
been living in the Port Phillip Bay region for at least
40,000 years. Generations of the first people would
have seen the creation of the bay itself, as the waters
rose to fill Bass Strait and cut off Tasmania from the
mainland about 11,000 years ago. There were five clans
around the bay area making up the Woiwurung
language group. The Wurundjeri-William clan
inhabited the area where the current port is situated.
The area teemed with water plants and bird life. It was
a favoured hunting ground for the Kooris who set fish
traps, hunted small birds and animals, and foraged for
roots, seeds, leaves
and insects. ^ TOP
The newcomers
British ships first visited Port Phillip in 1802 and 1803.
The first European to explore the Yarra Riverwas
Charles Grimes, Surveyor General of New South
Wales, in January 1803. Rowing up the river, he passed
a reef near today's Queen Street, which separated the
tidal salt water from the Yarra's fresh drinking water.
The Grimes party reported that this made the Yarra 'the
most eligible place for a settlement' - a discovery that is
often misleadingly credited to John Batman, who
arrived thirty-two years later in 1835. When a rowboat
from his ship, the Rebecca , was sent up the Yarra
there is no evidence that Batman himself was aboard.
He later noted that 'this will be the place for a village'
but he was echoing the Grimes' expedition's discovery.
^ TOP
Early problems
The original site of Melbourne was chosen for its
access to fresh water rather than its potential as a port.
An underwater bar at the entrance of the Yarra River
ruled out the entry of vessels drawing more than about
nine feet of water. Ships arriving from overseas had to
drop anchor in Hobson's Bay, or at the Sandridge (Port
Melbourne) Pier. Passengers and goods then had to be
transhipped up the river in smaller vessels or 'lighters'
as they were called. These charged excessive amounts.
It has been recorded that it cost 30 shillings per ton
(half the entire freight costs for the voyage from
England) to have goods taken the eight miles from sea
to city, and the average delay in 1858 was three weeks.
The discovery of gold in 1850 exacerbated the problems of the port. In just one
week in 1853 nearly 4000 passengers from 138 ships arrived in Hobson's Bay.
In 1851 the population of Victoria was 77,000. Ten years later it had increased
six times, to reach 461,000. This growth placed an enormous strain on both the
port and the town. Some favoured a simple solution to the problem such as
removing the bar and dredging a deeper channel to the river. Others proposed
developing alternative port facilities at Port Melbourne or Williamstown.^
TOP
The Melbourne Harbor Trust
Following pressure from several Boards of Inquiry, the
Melbourne Harbor Trust was finally established in
1877. Its task was to improve access for shipping to
Melbourne proper, but political pressure from rival port
communities at Port Melbourne and Williamstown
meant that it was several years before its
recommendations were brought into effect.
The Trust employed the British engineer Sir John

Coode to suggest how best to upgrade all aspects of the
port. As well as seeking to improve the traffic flow in
the river by widening and deepening it, he proposed
removing the falls and raising the embankments to
lessen the likelihood of floods. He also proposed to
straighten the Yarra’s course by cutting a channel from
west of Flinders Street to below its junction with the
Maribyrnong. These works were all undertaken in the
1880s, and the Coode Canal was in use by 1886. ^
TOP
Victoria Dock
Another of Coode's recommendations was that the land
southwest of the rail yards be used for another major
dock facility. Consequently Victoria Dock was opened
in 1893. By 1908 it was handling ninety per cent of
Victoria's imports. In 1914 its capacity was enlarged by
the addition of a central pier and in 1925 the entrance
was widened.
With rapidly increasing tonnage figures and further

renovation and development, the period between the
two world wars was very significant in the
development of the Melbourne docks. Victoria Dock
and the adjacent North Wharf on the river continued to
play a vital role, handling half of the Port of
Melbourne's trade. As ships increased in size so did the
needs of the river and wharves to accommodate them.
Channels and berths continually required dredging.
Other factors also influenced the development of the docks. The growth of
automobile ownership necessitated the need for more bridges over the Yarra.
Before the 1920s only Princes Bridge and the Queen Street Bridge were in
operation. The construction of the Spencer Street Bridge in 1927-28
meant that all port traffic had to be handled further downstream, and
foreshadowed the need for more docks.^ TOP
World War II
During World War II, Melbourne's role as the chief
supply point for US forces meant that available work
increased. The port had to cope with the sudden influx
of ships carrying troops or cargo requiring a quick
turnaround. New kinds of mechanical cargo such as
planes, tanks and artillery needed new forms of
handling. The needs of war also brought about further

renovations and the arrival of better handling devices
such as the forklift. ^ TOP
Modern times
The post-war period saw the further development of the
dock area as well as its progressive march downstream.
Appleton Dock, built on the site of the old course of the
Yarra, was planned since the 1930s, but because of the
war was not completed until 1956. In 1960, Webb
Dock, at the mouth of the Yarra, provided roll-on-roll-
off capacity mainly for the transport of motorists to and
from Tasmania. The complement of post- war docks
was completed with the building of Swanson Dock, the
port's major container terminal. This reflected the
change to shipping cargo in uniform sized containers at
the beginning of the 1960s, which brought new
requirements for port areas.
Rather than needing storage sheds close to the wharf, more open space was
required for the storage of containers. The Port of Melbourne was fortunate in
this regard since it still possessed reclaimed swampland that could be used for
this purpose. Today, Melbourne is Australia's largest and busiest container port
and one of the nation’s largest general cargo ports.
For many years following the war the port's passenger terminal facility at
Station Pier in Port Melbourne was the home of the migrant ships bringing
European migrants to Australia. Today Station Pier's passenger business is
made up entirely of cruise ships, and the Tasmanian ferries,
Spirit of Tasmania I & II.
Wharf conditions and payment rates for workers improved dramatically after
the war. The modern era has seen a major decline in the amount of manual
work involved because of containerisation and other technological
developments.
In addition to the physical changes brought about by construction of new dock

facilities post war, the erection of the Sir Charles Grimes Bridge between the
Railway Yards and Victoria Dock in 1975 saw the further closure of the river
wharves east of its span. The construction of the Bolte Bridge as part of the
CityLink Tollway downstream from Victoria Dock has meant the closure of
most of that historic dock’s facilities. The approaches had already become too
narrow for many of today’s ships. Victoria Dock is now a major element in the
Docklands development and is now called Victoria Harbour.

History of The Port

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History of The Port

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There are three major cities in Australia, namely Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane are straddle

History of the port

Click on a link to find out more

The first people

The Trust employed the British engineer Sir John

With rapidly increasing tonnage figures and further

In addition to the physical changes brought about by construction of new dock

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