Eyre Peninsula port at Lucky Bay will be ready for SA farmers in time for the 2018 harvest

Ship ahoy. China’s bonny fair builder sends its newest ship to SA.

T-port’s new transhipment vessel is launched in China.

AN 87m transhipment vessel capable of carrying 3500 tonnes of grain has been officially launched in China in readiness for its journey to South Australia’s new Eyre Peninsula T-Ports project.

It will now be fitted with a material handling system in a Shanghai shipyard before heading to SA in time for exports of the 2018 grain harvest through the innovative new farmer and private equity partnership at Lucky Bay.

T-Ports chief executive Kieran Carvill, who was in China for the launch by builders Bonny Fair Development, said the transhipment vessel was vital to the project as it could manage shallow water depths in the harbour terminal.

“The use of a transhipment vessel means we need less than 4m of depth in the harbour terminal, eliminating the need for major jetty structures and other port infrastructure, which is a lower-cost model,” Mr Carvill said.

Lucky Bay port facility development, Eyre Peninsula

Once it reaches Lucky Bay, the ship will be loaded with grain in port and its load then shifted on to deep water vessels waiting five nautical miles from the port.

In good weather conditions, it could manage to deliver 10,800 to 13,250 tonnes to the ships each day.

Work to design the Lucky Bay terminal, near Cowell, was now underway with local engineering firm Ahrens expected to begin construction of the port facility later this month.

The news comes after T-Ports and Adelaide Crows chairman Rob Chapman jointly announced work would start on the long-awaited $115 million grains port on Eyre Peninsula in March, with the group saying it was a breakthrough for grain farmers currently facing expensive transport costs and scant competition.

At the time, Mr Chapman expected the project would create some 50 to 60 construction jobs, with the first grain being shipped from Lucky Bay, near Cowell, in October.

Mr Carvill said civil contractors had been short-listed for the project’s two bunker sites and there were plans to also award the bulk earthworks contracts this month.

The Lucky Bay port development is a joint venture between South Australian fund manager Inheritance Capital Asset Management, Duxton Asset Management and Sea Transport Corporation.

T-Ports management had been meeting with key industry stakeholders, including local Flinders state member Peter Treloar, to discuss how the project is unfolding.

Grain farmers were expected to save $5 to $20 per tonne in transport costs along with another $25 to $40 a tonne in importing fertiliser back to the port. It currently arrives through Port Lincoln or is trucked from Adelaide.

Mr Chapman said 120 Eyre Peninsula farmers committing to using the port would get a $3 company share for each tonne of grain delivered.

The private equity team launching the new shallow harbour port were also scoping Yorke Peninsula for a second port site.

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