page_title: Illawarra Steam Navigation Company
section_title: Ports
hierarchical_section_title: Illawarra Steam Navigation Company / Ports
caption_attribution_description: Wharf at Nelligen, New South Wales on the Clyde River used by the Illawarra Steam Navigation Company
context_page_description: The Illawarra Steam Navigation Company was a shipping company that serviced the south coast of New South Wales, Australia from 1858 to the early 1950s. It was formed through the amalgamation of the General Steam Navigation Company, the Kiama Steam Navigation Company and the Shoalhaven Steam Navigation Company, each of whom serviced parts of the south coast with their respective vessels. After merging, the new company held a near monopoly in regard to shipping on the south coast, and their fleet visited every significant port between Sydney and the border of Victoria. The company transported both passengers and a range of produce, including livestock, and hence it became known as the 'Pig and Whistle Line': it was said that ships would wait an hour for a pig but not a minute for a passenger.
  Over the years more than twenty steamships were a part of the fleet, including the 1112 ton Merimbula and the 693 ton Eden. Many of these vessels were purpose-built for the company's needs, and were constructed at shipyards both within Australia and abroad.
context_section_description: In the early 1850s, when the General Steam Navigation Company, Kiama Steam Navigation Company and the Shoalhaven Steam Navigation Company were independent operations, the major ports of call along the south coast of New South Wales included Sydney, Wollongong, Shoalhaven, Merimbula, Kiama and Twofold Bay. After the amalgamation of the three companies, this list included stops at Gerringong, Batemans Bay, and Nelligen. Later, minor gold rushes at both Moruya and the Wagonga district resulted in their inclusion, and other ports were to include Bermagui, Eden, Narooma and Tathra.
  The extent of the Illawarra Steam Navigation Company's operations along the coast can be seen by their 1870 schedule, in which they were making the journey to Kiama, Shoalhaven and Gerringong every three days, and to Ulladulla, Clyde, Shoalhaven and Wollongong at about the same rate. Mourya was visited every two weeks, while an additional journey was made to Merimbula and Ulladulla once a week. 1873 saw a simplification of these services, and a weekly run to Merimbula, Eden and Tathra was amongst the changes.
  Maintaining the services of the Illawarra Steam Navigation Company did, at times, take some effort on the part of the residents. For example, in Ulladulla a wooden jetty was built in 1859 in order to retain the services of the company; they had informed the farmers that their ships would not call again at Ulladulla unless better mooring facilities were provided. (After seven years the jetty was replaced by a stone pier built by the government on the natural reef). Similarly the town of Tathra was created through the erection of a small jetty, built so that the local farmers could gain access to coastal shipping which previously had stopped 25 km away at Merimbula.
caption: Wharf at Nelligen on the Clyde River.
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