Future Cairns: What our port will look like

Nestled in the heart of our tropical city sits one of the region’s economic powerhouses. With massive projects underway read what Ports North’s leaders think the port will be like in the future.

Jo-Anne Bell, Paul Doyle and Jacinta Caraballo. Picture: Emily Barker

Nestled in the heart of our tropical city sits one of the region’s economic powerhouses.

And while many will just see the Cairns port for its obvious tourism uses – ferrying passengers to the Reef or taking in cruise ships – a trip deeper into the inlet reveals there’s plenty going on beneath the surface.

The Cairns Post spoke with the leaders of Ports North to discuss what the future of the port looks like in terms of not only day-to-day operations, but also the future sustainability of the port and the people who will work there.

Operations: Big future for cruises and superyachts

Marina manager Andrew Rokstad said after a number of quieter years through the pandemic, the port was pretty much back to normal.

He’s optimistic about the short-term future.

“The arrivals through the airport are looking good and we are basically back to normality,’ he said.

“We are expecting over 80,000 people to be heading out to the reef on our different operators this season so that is back on par.”

Cruising is also looking up with 87 cruise ships booked for 2024, a 90 per cent increase on last year’s figures.

“Next year is looking even better again, so we are looking at 11 turnarounds, four maiden voyages and 22 days when we have two ships in at once with around 4000 people coming off those boats,” Mr Rokstad said.

“These ships are booking years in advance with our schedule filling up quickly all the way through to 2028, it’s very promising.”

Ports North Marina Manager Andrew Rokstad. Picture: Emily Barker

Mr Rokstad said with cruise ships only getting bigger, they were looking at ways to accommodate the largest ships on the water.

“There was a lot of work done with the Cairns shipping development when they widened the channel and the swing basin which allowed us to have vessels up to 298m, so for us to get those larger ones it is a fair bit of (an) expansion,” he said.

There has been talk of bringing the larger vessels directly into Cairns rather than having them sit off Yorkeys Knob, which would mean bringing passengers in from ship at anchor down the channel and directly into the marina.

“It will be a slightly longer journey till we see larger boats get down the channel but at the end of the day passengers will benefit and so will Cairns,” Mr Rokstad said.

The marina manager said there was also massive opportunity — especially with the 2032 Olympics on the horizon — in the world of the uber rich and their biggest and most extravagant toys, superyachts.

“We are doing very well with superyachts at the moment,” he said.

“Our numbers are increasing dramatically, and we are seeing a big increase in the larger international vessels which is the market you want.

“It’s estimated that around 200 superyachts will be coming to Australia for the Olympics and that won’t just be a couple of weeks.”

Mr Rokstad said Cairns was lucky in that it was one of only three ports in Australia that can handle a vessel over 80m – maxing out at 140m.

He said with the construction of the Common User Facility, Cairns can become a one-stop shop for all the needs of these vessels, which are only getting bigger.
“We will have everything you want in a superyacht destination, the location — reef and rainforest right on your doorstep, world class facilities in the marina itself, and the maintenance capability to keep these vessels for longer and offer all their needs.”

Another key priority for the operations of the port will be building more fleet capacity in the marina.

“One of the biggest items in master planning is the expansion of the commercial tourist fleet, looking at being able to increase our capacity,” he said.

“At the moment the fleet has been how it was since pre-Covid, but now with passenger numbers increasing they want to bring in new options, different tours, and new vessels.”

Sustainability: Greener, more resilient, and new home grown jobs for people

Key to the future of Ports North will be a newly updated sustainability strategy which looks to innovate and help the organisation lead the region and its partners into a greener and more resilient future.

Jacinta Caraballo, manger of sustainability for Ports North, said the strategy focuses on the four Ps.

“We have four key themes in our strategy, people, prosperity, planet and partnerships,” she said.

She said sustainability was especially important in a sensitive environment, operating as the port does within the intersection of two world heritage areas, the rainforest and reef.

“The climate risks are always changing and we need to look to the future to make sure we are building resilience in our infrastructure to support the region,” she said.

“We are also doing a lot of work around understanding our energy, water and waste impacts as a port across our operations, within our tenancy, and in our supply chain looking for ways we can decrease our environmental footprint.”

Ports North Sustainability Manager Jacinta Caraballo. Picture: Emily Barker

Ms Caraballo said there was opportunity for innovation as the industry moves towards things like decarbonisation.

“There are so many opportunities out there, we are all facing the same sort of challenges in sustainability and we are all wanting to do the right thing and are very passionate about our region,” she said.

“There are so many different technologies that are coming in, so we are not yet sure where things are going to land, for example where the marine fleet is going in terms of fuels and what the future of the types of vessels in the port looks like.”

Ms Caraballo said there were opportunities in the green energy transition and that includes the creation of new roles and a chance for Cairns to set itself apart.

“The region lends itself to people who are passionate about sustainability and conservation, they get it and understand what they are protecting and why it is so important,” she said.

“Innovation is sustainability is really how the region can differentiate itself, it can be a point of difference especially in our environment with the reef and the rainforest,” general manager strategy Paul Doyle said.

Ports North Strategy and External Relations General manager Paul Doyle. Picture: Emily Barker

Manager for people and culture Jo-Anne Bell said many of the jobs in the port will change as we see new technologies, but there will always be people at the heart of the port.

“With the port itself we are moving towards a greener energy space, we will see a difference in the ships that come in, ships will get bigger,” she said

“This doesn’t necessarily mean you need more people. Thinking smarter not harder I think is going to be the way of the future.

“There will always be people in ports though which makes it interesting compared to other industries which could for instance go to robotics or automation.

“With the actual shipping side of it, that is going to get really interesting, there is talk of things like replacing marine pilots with remote control operators, that’s the way of the future.

“Pulling back on emissions will also bring a lot of change with ships.”

Ms Bell said that training and attracting the best staff will be a huge part of making the most out of future opportunities with the port.

Ports North People and Culture Manager Jo-Anne Bell. Picture: Emily Barker

“We have a lot of people on board already who are absolute professionals in the field are really good at what they do and what they need in terms of new skills,” she said

“If we are bringing people in we need new expertise and new innovation and people who are able to think out of the box.”

She said the organisation was committed to getting young people from the region into the industry.

“We are about to embark on some programs for local youth, some grad positions, hopefully soon some traineeships and apprenticeships,” Ms Bell said.

“We also are hoping to get some cadetships off the ground providing support and training to young people in a community to move into the marine industry.”

Ms Bell said the port offered a flexible and dynamic workplace and young people should get involved and explore what opportunities there are for them.

“We need young people getting into this environment, getting them interested and getting some buy in, because it is a really interesting place to be and its different, its flexible and you can engage young people with that.”

Originally published as Future Cairns: What our port will look like