Brisbane Port – an Interesting History & Fun Fast Facts
Brisbane Port can be found in the lower part of the Brisbane River, on an artificial island known as Fisherman Island. We explore more of the port’s interesting history and facts in these 10 fast facts.
- The port is currently the third busiest port in Australia, and also the nation’s fastest-growing container port.
- The key commodities traded through the port include coal export, oil (crude and refined), and motor vehicle imports. It is also Australia’s largest exporter of meat and cotton. Brisbane Port’s major trading partners include North Asia, Southeast Asia, and East Asia, New Zealand, and the Gulf and Middle East regions.
- Until 43 years ago, the Port of Brisbane was underwater. This all changed in 1977 when after much work, 1800 hectares of new land were reclaimed from Brisbane River to turn Fisherman Island into the port we know and love today! This involved the building of a 5km causeway, a rail bridge to link the islands to the mainland at Lytton, and two road bridges.
- According to Brisbane Times, around 2750 ships come through the Port of Brisbane each year. There may also be an aircraft carrier or submarine that will turn up every once in a while.
- The visitor centre is seriously impressive! In fact, in 2005 a shorebird roost was constructed here, which is the largest site ever built specifically for migratory shorebirds on the east coast of Australia.
- While Brisbane Port as we know it today might not have been built yet, in World War II after Pearl Harbor was bombed on 7 December 1941, Brisbane became the busiest submarine port in the world. All the ships heading to Pearl Harbor were redirected to Brisbane and being close to where the American troops needed to be but still out of range of the Japanese bombers, meant Brisbane became host to over 75 000 soldiers.
- In 2014, the port became the first port in Australia where all the stevedores use automated container handling equipment. This followed the official opening of the Hutchinson Port Holdings which operated Brisbane Container Terminal at berths 11 and 12.
- In 2017, the Port of Brisbane received approval to deliver the Brisbane International Cruise Terminal. This is the first dedicated cruise facility in south-east Queensland that is able to accommodate mega cruise ships.
- Every year, nearly $50 billion in trade is handled through the port, which includes 95% of Queensland’s international container trade and around 50% of this state’s agricultural exports.
- Despite the world and shipping industry being in lockdown at the time of writing, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the port’s new multi-million dollar international cruise terminal is still set to open in October 2020. This new terminal will be able to accommodate some of the world’s largest cruise ships, such as Royal Caribbean International’s 293m-long Radiance of the Seas.
We look forward to seeing Brisbane port grow and develop further in the coming years. Port of Call is also excited to announce that we now offer Hull Cleaning at Brisbane Anchorage. Get in touch to find out more.