QUEENSLAND'S GERMAN CONNECTIONS - PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE
Tomorrow by sea The first exports leaving Brisbane included timber from local forests. The logs were rafted down the Brisbane River to Moreton Bay and moved by ship to Sydney. In 1850, Brisbane handled over 8,100 tons of cargo. By 1885, the port handled almost 691,000 tons. During the same period, the city’s population grew from less than 8,000 to more than 100,000. For much of the early years of the colony, its communication, travel and commerce in the southeast depended on the waters of Moreton Bay, and the Brisbane, Bremer, Logan and Nerang Rivers in particular. In World War II Brisbane was an important part of the Allied war effort. The Cairncross drydock was built to meet demands for ship repair facilities. In the late 1940s, livestock, sugar, mining, and meat-processing became important contributors to the local economy and to port exports. The city’s population grew significantly between 1947 and 1961, from 457,000 to 693,000 people. By the early 1960s, Brisbane was handling about 2.6 million tons of cargo per year. In the 1960s, two phases of development changed the Port of Brisbane forever. The Moonie oil fields were discovered, bringing two new oil refineries to the mouth of the Brisbane River and a whole new area of activity to the Port of Brisbane. By the end of the 1960s, containerised cargo was becoming an important aspect of commercial shipping. The Port’s first container terminal was built in 1969 in the Hamilton Reach of the Brisbane River, later replaced by the rapidly expanding new facilities at Fisherman Islands from 1981. As a guide, in 2007-2008 the Port of Brisbane handled 2,618 vessels carrying more than three million tons of cargo, including almost 1.4 million tons of exports. That year, the Port’s container traffic totalled 864,300 tons in 95,000 TEUs. Major imports included crude oil (613,600 tons), cement (235,800 tons), refined oil (167,400 tons), and retail goods (133,000 thousand tons) as well as smaller volumes of iron and steel, building products, timber, fertilisers and chemicals, paper and wood pulp, and motor vehicles. Major export cargoes included coal (489,500 tons) and refined oil (162,200 tons) as well as smaller volumes of cereals, cotton, meat products, iron and steel, and timber. The Port also manages several boat harbours on the shores of Moreton Bay and several public marine facilities and launching ramps. The Port of Brisbane Multi-modal Terminal (BMT), located behind the container parks, provides an interface between the port’s container terminals and the country’s road and rail networks.
karen ludlow / port of brisbane
River mouth in the early 1900s, looking northeast across the Bay towards Moreton Island. Image courtesy Antony Love via Peter Ludlow
Below: The Port of Brisbane is part of the multi-modal ‘Australia Trade Coast’, the map showing the port’s further reclamation extension to the northeast, into Moreton Bay, as well as the preserved mangrove and bird-resting areas of the Fisherman Islands and Luggage Point. Images via PBPL and ATC Background: Sunrise over the Spitfire Channel to the north of Moreton Island silhouettes a vessel inbound to Moreton Bay and the Port of Brisbane. Near-identical view made one century later; Bishop Island, just faintly visible in the top picture, now lies beneath the extended Fisherman Islands. Image courtesy PBPL
Reference: http://www.worldportsource.com/ports/review/AUS_Port_of_ Brisbane_40.ph
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