Mitch Matters: Local heroes make bay entries possible for the big ships
MITCH MATTERS: PENINSULA local and media personality Peter Mitchell regales the mighty work it takes to get container ships into Port Phillip Bay.
South East
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Standing on any Port Phillip Bay lookout, it remains a source of endless fascination for me.
It’s even better from the vantage point at Queenscliff or Point Lonsdale.
I can lose hours watching the big ships manoeuvre their way through the notorious rip at Port Phillip Heads.
Aside from the spectacle, there is always the realisation that any imported products or goods that we have in our homes today has to make this journey.
There’s only one way it can get to the Port of Melbourne, Australia’s busiest for containerised and general cargo.
Some of these mighty vessels are also bound for the Port of Geelong, which handles crude oil and petroleum products, export grain and woodchips, alumina imports and fertiliser.
The controversial bay dredging project in 2008-09 was designed to clear a passage for a new generation of huge container ships and super tankers.
Standing at Queenscliff and watching these giants of the sea, stacked to the heavens with containers, you’d swear we were importing a small city.
Motor cars, whitegoods, garden furniture, electrical appliances – the list is endless. All good for our economy, we’re told.
But very much on the downside, dredging has been blamed for destroying most of Portsea’s front beach, which is now sandbagged against the rising water. Sadly, it doesn’t appear we’ll ever see that back again.
And still the big boats come in their hundreds, from ports and cities all over the world.
For me, the local heroes are the ones who risk life and limb to make sure these massive vessels make it through the heads safely without causing an environmental catastrophe.
The pathway through is narrow and tricky, before a hard turn towards Dromana for the direct route to the Port of Melbourne.
The Port Phillip sea pilots have been providing these services to the ports of Melbourne, Geelong and Western Port since 1839.
They perform an extraordinary job.
The pilot boarding ground lies five miles (8km) southwest of the Point Lonsdale lighthouse. On the Western Port side, the boarding ground is 3.5 miles (5.6km) south of West Head at Flinders. The pilots are required to head out in their high-speed launches, in all weather conditions and tides, day and night, to pull up alongside these maritime behemoths.
They then climb a ladder, usually made of rope, to a 45- degree accommodation ladder, secured to the ship’s side, or to a side door.
From there, they head to the bridge to take the wheel, and the job of the visiting captain.
They are the ones with the local knowledge and they have to be listened to, no matter what language barriers exist.
Once safely through, it’s back down that ladder again to their partner in the launch and a return to base.
The pilots are always there when required.
I’m not certain what their pay packet contains, but I’m sure it isn’t enough. Give them a thought next time you use an imported product.