1. What’s in our Port?
2. Facts about Ships
3. Port People
4. Our Environment
5. Further Information
   
   

What’s in our Port?

The Port of Townsville has nine working berths. Here is a brief outline of what each berth is used for:

Nickel Ore is the biggest import followed by oil, cement, and then zinc concentrates, general cargo, sulphur and fertiliser. The biggest export is minerals followed by sugar, fertiliser, molasses, general cargo, timber, meat products, sulphuric acid, and cattle.

Facts about ships

Port and starboard.
The names ‘starboard’ and ‘port’ are derived from the earliest days of shipping. The right hand starboard side of the craft was the location of the steering rudder, or ‘steer board’, before central rudders were developed. In a harbour, the vessel would be tied on the left hand port side to avoid damaging the rudder.
Internationally, all power driven vessels underway at night are required to display a red sidelight to port, a green one to starboard and two white masthead lights and a stern light.

How do ships move through the water?
Most modern ships use screw propellers, but this was not always the case. In 1845, a bizarre tug-of-war was staged to determine whether screw propellers or paddle wheels were more efficient. Two 800-ton British frigates were tied stern to stern, and with engines full ahead, the contest began. The screw propeller driven HMS Rattler won the contest easily.

What is a ship’s draft?
The draft of a ship is how deep it sits in the water - the draft is measured from the water line to the underside of the ship’s keel.

What is a ship’s beam?
One of the principal horizontal timbers of a ship. The beams of a vessel are strong pieces of timber stretching across from side to side to support the decks. It can also mean the width of a vessel; as, one vessel is said to have more beam than another.

The registered breadth of a ship
This means the registered breadth of the ship. It is measured amidships to the moulded line of the frame in a ship with a metal shell and to the outer surface of the hull in a ship with a shell of any other material, measured in metres.

What is a ship’s LOA?
This is the overall length of the ship.

Knot
This is the speed through water; the velocity in nautical miles (6,080 feet) per hour.

Aft
This is towards the rear, or transom, of a ship.

Ballast
A weight at the bottom of a boat to keep it stable. Ballasts can be placed inside the hull of the boat or externally in a keel.

Keel
A flat surface built into the bottom of the boat to reduce the leeway caused by the wind pushing against the side of the boat. A keel also usually has some ballast to help keep the boat upright and prevent it from heeling too much. There are several types of keels, such as fin keels and full keels.

What is a bilge pump used for?
A mechanical, electrical, or manually operated pump used to remove water from the bilge. The bilge is the lowest part of the interior of the boat where water collects.

What is a depth sounder used for?
This is an instrument that uses sound waves to measure the distance to the bottom of the water.

What is a dry dock?
A dock where a boat can be worked on out of the water. The boat is usually sailed into a dry dock, and then the water is pumped out.

Mayday
An internationally recognized distress signal used on a radio to indicate a life-threatening situation. Mayday calls have priority over any other radio transmission and should be used only if there is an immediate threat to life or vessel.

What is a nautical mile?
Distance at sea is measured in nautical miles, which are about 6,067.12 feet, 1.15 statute miles or exactly 1,852 meters. Nautical miles have the unique property that 1 minute of latitude is equal to 1 nautical mile. There is a slight error, because the earth is not perfectly round.

1. The left side of the boat from the perspective of a person at the stern of the boat, looking toward the bow. The opposite of starboard.
2. A place where ships go to dock.
3. A porthole. A window in the side of a boat, usually round or with rounded corners. Sometimes portholes can be opened; sometimes they are fixed shut.

Swell
Large smooth waves that do not break. Swells are formed by wind action over a long distance.

Zephyr
A gentle breeze. The west wind.

Port People

The Regional Harbour Master (Maritime Safety Queensland)
One of the most important jobs in any Port is the Harbour Master. The Harbour Master has the ultimate responsibility for the safe navigation of ships within port limits. The Harbour Master can also issue directions, including :

• The time and manner in which a vessel may enter or leave port waters.
• The navigation and movement of vessels within port waters.
• The position of vessels and how they are anchored or secured.
• The time and manner of discharging cargo, stores, fuel, fresh water, or ballast.
• The securing or removal of a vessel from port waters.
• Requiring a pilot to remain on board an anchored vessel.
• Prohibiting entry of any vessel in imminent danger of sinking or removing any such vessel.

Control Tower Employees (Port of Townsville)
Most Port’s have a control tower where the Port Services Officer can communicate with ships and pilots assisting them with berthing information prior to arriving or departing. Allocation of berths is also a major responsibility of these employees. They act as the link between shipping and ship agents and provide a 24-hour coverage of Port surveillance.

Pilots (Maritime Safety Queensland)
A maritime or marine pilot goes aboard ocean-going vessels such as freighters, tankers, and passenger liners at anchor in the ports or on the open sea. After making their way to the bridge of the vessel, the pilot assumes control and guides the vessel through traffic, rocks, reefs, shoals, and narrow channels to its destination. The occupation assumes significant responsibility and climbing ship ladders can be dangerous.

Maritime states have mandatory pilotage laws for, at the very least, foreign-flag vessels of a certain size. A state pilot is a highly regulated occupation. The Board of Maritime Pilots regulates the requirements for selection, training, and education, and sets salaries.

Tug Masters and Crew (Private Company)
Tug, or tugboat, is a motor ship used to pull other vessels (see shipping) in harbours, over the open sea or through rivers and canals.
Tugs are quite strong for their size. Early tugs had steam engines, today diesel engines are used. They have a high manoeuvrability due to their propulsion units.

• Tugs have a top speed of about 10 knots (20 km/h).
• The engine room typically has two of everything (for safety).
• The engines are often the same as those used in railroad engine, but more commonly have mechanically direct drives through gearboxes and clutches instead of the diesel/electric configuration of a locomotive in which the engine turns an electric generator, which provides power to motors for operation of the propelling units.

Australian Customs Service
Customs manages the security and integrity of Australia’s borders. It works closely with other government and international agencies, in particular the Australian Federal Police, the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service, the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs and the Department of Defence, to detect and deter unlawful movement of goods and people across the border.

The agency is a national organisation employing over 4,800 people in Australia and overseas, with its Central Office in Canberra. It has a fleet of ocean-going patrol vessels and contracts two aerial surveillance providers for civil maritime surveillance and response.

Protecting the Australian community through the interception of illegal drugs and firearms is a high priority and sophisticated techniques are used to target high-risk aircraft, vessels, cargo, postal items, and travellers. This includes intelligence analysis, computer-based analysis, detector dogs, and various other technologies. Clients of Customs include the Australian community, the Government, industry, travellers and other government agencies.

AQIS
The Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) protect Australia’s unique environment and agricultural industries from exotic pests and diseases by monitoring our borders. Australia has one of the strongest quarantine measures anywhere in the world. At sea ports:

• All ships are inspected.
• General surveillance has been increased, including for waste management.
• Passengers are screened and inspected as at airports.
• Baggage is x-rayed or inspected.

Stevedores
Two stevedoring companies operate out of the Port of Townsville. They are Northern Shipping & Stevedoring (NSS) and Patrick’s Corporation.
A stevedore is a person who works at loading or unloading a ship. This job involves more than mere labouring. It is skilled work that requires operation of loading equipment, the proper packing and unpacking techniques for cargo, and the correct handling of hazardous materials. In earlier days stevedores had to tie down cargoes with rope. A special form of stop knot is called the stevedore's knot. Today a commercial stevedoring company is one that is involved in shipping logistics between sea and land transport.

Customs Brokers
A person or firm licensed by an importer’s government and engaged in entering and clearing goods through customs. The responsibilities of a broker include preparing the entry form and filing it; advising the importer on duties to be paid; advancing duties and other costs; and arranging for delivery to the importer.
Represents an importer of cargo. Performs duties related to documentation, cargo clearance, coordination of inland and ocean transportation, dockside inspection of cargo, etc.

Ships Agents
A ship’s agent acts as an agent for the ship owner. They look after the ship and its cargo and act as the representative as the ships owner in the port. This involves arranging to bring a ship in and out of port, liaise with stevedores, and generally act as a co-coordinator.
Their main function involves documentation, planning, and liaison with the necessary people to make sure that everybody knows what is going on. They are the one person that should know everything that is going on with a ship in the port.

Providores
They bring supplies on and off the ship to the sailors. These include food and drink.

Our Environment

Check out our work to protect and study our part of the environment. Everything in the reef and water ecosystem is recycled. Some of the animals spend most of their time cleaning but they cannot break down our rubbish and waste. We have to be careful not to upset the balance of nature by allowing rubbish and waste to enter the sea. Plastic breaks down very slowly on land under the action of sunlight. In the sea, where there is no sunlight it takes longer.

Compare the breakdown time for the items listed on land and in the sea.

Some more facts about what happens when we throw things into the sea:

• Cigarette butts take 40 years to break down.
• Sneakers take 75 years to break down.
• Foam cups take 500 years to break down.
• A glass bottle takes 1 million years to break down.

Further Information