Port of Brisbane
Port of Brisbane is the shipping port and coastal suburb of the City of Brisbane, on the east coast of Queensland, Australia. In the , Port of Brisbane had no residents living in the suburb. The port is the largest in the state of Queensland. Geography. Port of Brisbane is located in the lower reaches of the Brisbane River on Fisherman Island, an artificial island reclaimed from the smaller Fisherman Islands group at the mouth of the river, adjacent to Brisbane Airport. It currently is the third busiest port in Australia and the nation's fastest growing container  port. It is the endpoint of the main shipping channel across Moreton Bay which extends north to Mooloolaba and is dredged to maintain a depth of at the lowest tide. Queensland's next two largest ports are the Port of Gladstone and the Port of Townsville. According to the former Queensland Department of Primary Industries the Port of Brisbane was the most likely entry point of the South American fire ant to Australia. About 60% of the coal transported through the port originates from the New Acland Mine. History. In 1980, the narrow gauge () Fisherman Islands line was opened between  the port and a junction near Lindum on the Cleveland line. This was converted to dual / gauge in 1997 under the Keating Government's One Nation program. In January 2008, Port of Brisbane Corporation signed an agreement with Brisbane Container Terminals, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hutchison Port Holdings, subsidiary of Hutchison Whampoa, which Hutchison will operate berths 11 and 12 for 42 years. Deposits of silt and sediment in the ports channels and berths have caused delays of up to five days in the delivery of cargo including oil supplies. This has occurred in 2011, 2013 and 2014. Millions  of dollars is spent on dredging annually. In the , Port of Brisbane had no residents. Facilities. The port is managed by the Port of Brisbane Pty Ltd (PBPL) under a 99-year lease from the Queensland Government. The Port of Brisbane has 29 operating berths including nine deep-water container berths and three deep-water bulk berths as well as 17 bulk and general cargo berths. In total the port facilitates more than 2,600 ships each year and transports more than 28 million tonnes of cargo each year. Portside Wharf at Hamilton was completed in 2006 and is an international  standard facility for cruise liners, offering restaurants, coffee shops, gift shops, and other facilities. However, due to the height restrictions of the Gateway Bridge and length restriction of that far upstream, the larger ocean-going cruise liners must dock further down the river at the more industrial Multi User Terminal at the Port of Brisbane. In late 2020, the Brisbane International Cruise Terminal opened on the northern bank of the Brisbane River in the suburb of Pinkenba opposite the port. The cruise terminal is located at Luggage Point next to the Luggage Point Sewage Treatment Plant (which has been renamed  the Luggage Point Resource Recovery Centre). The terminal can accommodate the largest cruise vessels in the world. It is operated by the port but will not be part of the suburb of Port of Brisbane. The port accommodates a visitors centre and in 2005 a shorebird roost was constructed. The bird roost is the largest site built specifically for migratory shorebirds on the east coast of Australia. Transport links. The Port of Brisbane Motorway is a short road linking the Gateway Motorway to the Port of Brisbane. Expansion. The Port of Brisbane is currently under a large upgrade and extension  spending A$50 million on infrastructure and a further A$100 million on equipment including over 25 automated straddle carriers owned by Patrick Corporation.