Port Botany (seaport)

Port Botany is a deepwater seaport located in Botany Bay in Sydney, Australia. The port is dominated by trade in containerised manufactured products, and to a lesser bulk liquid imports including petroleum and natural gas. It is Australia's second-largest container port, and is administered by the Sydney Ports Corporation.

History

Prior to 1960 Sydney's international shipping facilities were exclusively located in Port Jackson, with bulk and break bulk docks at Darling Harbour and Walsh Bay. and bulk and ro-ro docks at Glebe Island and White Bay.

With the advent of containerization in the late 1950s it became clear that Sydney would require additional port facilities to cater for new cargo types. In the 1960s the government agency responsible for ports, the NSW Maritime Services Board, recommended that a new port complex be developed in the northern part of Botany Bay adjacent to Sydney Airport. The New South Wales Government endorsed the proposal in 1969 and in 1971 work commenced on two container terminals to the north, and a bulk liquid wharf and storage area to the south.

Bulk liquids

The bulk liquid terminal was completed in 1979 as a common-user facility for the import of natural gas, oil, petroleum and chemicals. [cite web| title =Bulk Liquids Berth Number 2 (Port Botany) | publisher =Sinclair Knight Merz | month =November | year =2007 | url =http://www.planning.nsw.gov.au/asp/pdf/07_0061_port_botany_2nd_bulk_liquids_ea.pdf | accessdate =2008-02-08 ] The terminal and storage area were progressively expanded during the 1980s including new ethylene tanks and handling plant operated by ICI, and AGL storage caverns in 1994 and 2000.cite paper | author = Young, Michael | coauthors = Coetzee, Matt | title = Pot Botany Expansion: Environmental Impact Statement| publisher = URS Australia | date = 2003]

Containers

The northernmost container terminal was completed in 1979 and officially opened by then-Premier Neville Wran who christened it "Brotherson Dock" in memory of former Maritime Services Board chairman Bill Brotherson who had died in 1975. [cite web| title =Evolution of Botany the Port | publisher =Sydney Ports Corporation | month =November | year =2002 | url =http://www.sydneyports.com.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/1188/Centenary_book_Chapter_4.pdf | accessdate =2008-02-08] The terminal was initially leased to Australian shipping company ANL but was transferred to Patrick Corporation in the 1990s. In 2006 the Patrick Corporation merged with Toll Holdings.

The southern container terminal opened in 1982, christened "Brotherson Dock Two" and leased to the newly-formed stevedore company Container Terminals Australia (CTAL). Despite both terminals being of equal size and quay length, Brotherson Dock Two struggled to compete with its northern neighbour. In its first full year of operation, Brotherson Two handled just 91,000 containers with a berth occupancy rate of 40 percent. [cite web| title =Occasional Paper 70 - Container Terminal Productivity in Port Botany: CTAL Terminal | publisher =Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, Commonwealth of Australia | month =May | year =1985 | url =http://www.bitre.gov.au/publications/35/Files/OP070.pdf | accessdate =2008-02-08] In the 1990s CTAL ceased operations and the terminal lease was onsold to shipping company P&O. In 2006 P&O was purchased by Dubai Ports.

References