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News
Port Celebrates Record Cruise Season
The Port of Townsville is celebrating a record cruise season that saw 23 cruise ships carrying more than 27,000 passengers and 13,000 crew visit Townsville. The last cruise ship for the 2025/26 season, Vista, visited Townsville today (Tuesday, 14 April) with about 1,200 passengers on board. Port of Townsville Chief Executive Officer Ranee Crosby said the record season reflected increasing demand to experience the Townsville region. “We work incredibly hard with our cruise partners in Townsville and within the cruise sector to make the seasons the best they can be, offering a welcome dose of energy to the city’s vibrant tourism sector,” Ms Crosby said. “It’s exciting to see cruise ship companies visit Townsville for the first time, with the Port and cruise liners celebrating many maiden voyages this season. “We also had the pleasure of welcoming several residential cruise ships, where residents on board were able to enjoy the city and region for a number of days.” Ms Crosby said the cruise ship season usually ran from November to April, but next year’s season had been extended, with cruise ships booked to dock in June and July in 2027. Member for Townsville Adam Baillie said the growing cruise trade was delivering solid benefits for the local community. “Townsville continues to cement our reputation as the tourism and events capital of the North,” Mr Baillie said. “Cruise ships are now becoming a reliable part of Townsville’s local economy, supporting cafes, shops and tourism operators as our city continues to evolve in the lead up to the 2032 Games.” Townsville Enterprise Director of Visitor Economy Lisa Woolfe said the region’s cruise sector continued to go from strength to strength. “It’s fantastic to see Townsville’s cruise industry continuing to grow and break records,” Ms Woolfe said. “These visits deliver a significant boost to our local economy, particularly during the traditional off-peak season, providing greater year-round certainty for tourism operators. “We’re welcoming passengers from all corners of the globe, and what’s most exciting is their genuine sense of surprise and delight when they experience our region - from the Great Barrier Reef and World Heritage rainforests to rich Indigenous culture, unique wildlife and iconic locations like The Strand, just minutes from port. “We’ve worked hard to not only increase ship and passenger numbers, but to enhance the depth of experiences on offer to these passengers. Giving cruise passengers more experience options means they are doing more and dispersing across the region like never before - ensuring the economic benefits are felt more broadly.” Cruise tourism provides a major boost to the local economy with each passenger spending about $200 a day exploring the region. The 2026/27 cruise season will begin in November 2026, with the first cruise ship, Riviera, due to dock on Saturday, 7 November 2026.
Port of Townsville Ready for Project Pipeline
The Port of Townsville is well positioned to support North Queensland’s future industry development with the recent completion of a new 14-hectare dedicated Project Cargo Laydown Area and road and intersection upgrades. The newly constructed area will put Townsville on the map and ensure global connectivity for the region by improving the Port’s capacity and capabilities to facilitate large-scale project cargo, to support the major pipeline of planned project investment across the region. Port of Townsville General Manager of Operations, Projects, and Safety David McLoughlin said the completion of the multi-million-dollar project marked a significant milestone for both the Port and the North and North West Queensland regions. “Ports play a central role in enabling regional development. This investment ensures we can continue to support the major projects that drive jobs and economic growth across the region,” Mr McLoughlin said. “By expanding our project cargo handling capacity, we’re contributing to new trade and investment opportunities across Northern Australia. “This critical piece of infrastructure will help facilitate the region’s planned investments including renewable energy, advanced manufacturing and critical minerals.” Principle contractor Mendi Constructions Contractors Representative, Chris MacDonald said the multi-million-dollar project was a key milestone for Mendi. “This has been an important project for us to be a part of given its strategic importance for the development of both Port of Townsville and the broader North Queensland region,” Mr MacDonald said. “It places both a national and international spotlight on all stakeholders involved, including Doyle Group. “At Mendi, we pride ourselves on being adaptive and diverse with a general approach of taking on projects that challenge and improve our collective skillset. “The diverse scope and complexity of this project, which was delivered with a 90 per cent local workforce, demonstrates Mendi Constructions’ ability to deliver complex infrastructure while highlighting its ongoing commitment to developing, promoting and growing local talent.” The dedicated laydown area and transport network upgrades were designed to accommodate oversized and heavy project cargo, including wind turbine blades of up to 100 metres long. The project involved extensive civil works, pavement construction and drainage upgrades to ensure the Port’s facilities can safely manage high volumes of heavy project cargo. This capability will enable the efficient import, storage and transportation of project cargo from ship to site.
Port funds help community organisations
North Queensland community groups, not-for-profits and schools are encouraged to apply for the Port of Townsville’s 2026 Community Fund for the chance to share in $50,000. Now in its sixth year, the Port’s annual Community Fund has supported many projects across the region with a combined value of more than $2.55 million. Port of Townsville Chief Executive Officer Ranee Crosby said the Community Fund started in 2021 and has grown each year with more than 60 organisations receiving funding for their projects and initiatives. “While the Port’s operations are based in Townsville and Lucinda, our operations support communities in Hinchinbrook, the Burdekin and the North West,” Ms Crosby said. “Last year we were able to support 13 groups and organisations, after receiving more than 30 high quality applications. “Our successful applicants had causes and projects that align with our values of Partnerships, Opportunity, Respect and Trust along with our themes of Prosperity, Planet, Community and People.” One of last year’s successful applicants was Ingham-based Herbert River Cricket Association (HRCA) who used funds to replace items lost after the 2025 February flooding event. “Replacing the Wi-Fi modem/router and scoring tablets that were lost during the flooding restored the club’s ability to score matches electronically, ensuring accurate results, live updates, and smooth integration with Queensland Cricket’s online systems,” the club’s grants officer Errol Cerutti said. “It’s enabled players, coaches, and spectators to follow live scores, strengthening engagement and improving the overall match-day experience. “It’s ensured HRCA could continue to host fixtures, trials, and competitions for example Country Cup, CNQ U12 trials, Over 40s T20 Challenge, with professional scoring standards. “Improved connectivity at the clubhouse, supporting communication, online registrations, and future technology needs.” Black River Pony & Hack Club was able to purchase a new irrigator following their successful application to the Port’s fund last year. Black River Pony & Hack Club Committee Member and Chief Instructor Chantelle Turner said the club applied to the Community Fund to replace their irrigator, as it was leaking water and suffering from wear and tear. “Environmentally, the new irrigator will enable consistent and sustainable maintenance of our arena surface—reducing dust, erosion, and runoff into nearby waterways.” Ms Turner said. “Over time, this helps protect local ecosystems and ensures a safer, more resilient surface for horses and riders.” Each application is assessed by the fund’s panel that carefully considers requests with the Port’s values of Partnerships, Opportunity, Respect and Trust and our themes of Prosperity, Planet, Community and People. For more information and to apply go to Community Fund | Port of Townsville.
Capacity boost at Port of Townsville's busiest berth
The Port of Townsville is increasing handling capacity at Berths 3 and 4 through a $6.5 million upgrade that will improve cargo-handling capacity and enable larger vessels to access one of the Port’s busiest berths. The works have enabled the Port’s Liebherr Ship-to-Shore crane to operate along an additional 360 metres of berth, extending its reach from Berth 4 onto Berth 3 and enabling it to service 550m of quayline. Port of Townsville General Manager of Operations, Projects, and Safety David McLoughlin said the upgrade formed part of a broader program of works to accommodate larger-class cargo ships at the Port of Townsville and to strengthen its long-term trade growth and capabilities. “Berth 3 is one of our highest demand berths, and extending the crane access provides great efficiency gain for our customers,” Mr McLoughlin said. “With the Ship-to-Shore crane now able to work across both Berths 3 and 4, we can support future trade growth by handling greater volumes and turn ships around more efficiently.” More than 85 per cent of the work was delivered locally, with BMD Constructions’ Townsville team leading the project and supported by local subcontractors. BMD Northern Region General Manager Gerard Keynes says the project is the result of BMD's collaborative, local first approach. “We delivered this project for the Port of Townsville, supporting growth at northern Australia’s largest container and automotive port for decades to come,” Mr Keynes said. “We drew on over 30 years of experience in North Queensland, with a strong focus on engaging local workforce and suppliers. "Clocking over 13,000 hours of work, the project engaged local contractors, including DLB, BK Concreting, Metalrig and Advanced Civil, while creating full-time employment opportunities for engineers, supervisors, labourers and concreters. “This project forms part of BMD’s strong and expanding pipeline in Townsville across the transport, land development and port sectors.” The project which commenced in July 2025 and reached practical completion this month, was delivered while maintaining continuous operations at Berths 3 and 4 for the duration of the construction period.
Port of Townsville cyclone preparations underway
Port of Townsville is advancing cyclone preparations as a Tropical Low continues to approach the North Queensland coast. As of 10.51am the Bureau of Meteorology updated their forecast, with the low expected to develop into a Category One Tropical Cyclone at 10pm on Saturday, 10 January. The Regional Harbour Master (RHM) closed the Ports of Townsville and Lucinda for shipping movements due to the developing weather conditions from 6pm on Thursday, 8 January 2026 with damaging winds forecast in coming days. This resulted in the cancellation of cruise ship Noordam which was scheduled to berth in Townsville today (9 January) and several other commercial vessels have been postponed. The Ports remain closed to shipping and continues to follow advice from Bureau of Meteorology, Townsville Local Disaster Management Group and the Regional Harbour Master. Port of Townsville Acting General Manager Operations, Project and Safety Dennis Littlewood said the Port had moved to ‘condition yellow’ in response to the impending weather. “The Port of Townsville begins its cyclone readiness on 1 November each year and we are well prepared for whatever the weather might deliver over coming days,” Mr Littlewood said. “Port of Townsville landside operations remain open and operational, with activities being undertaken to secure landside infrastructure including implementing tie-down plans and minimising cargo on berths and in laydown areas. “We are continuing to work closely with the Bureau of Meteorology and Maritime Safety Queensland on precautionary measures to ensure the safety of Port staff and workers and minimise damage to critical infrastructure.” The Port will continue to follow advice from the Bureau of Meteorology, Townsville Local Disaster Management Group and Regional Harbour Master and will reassess the Port shipping status as further information becomes available.