Posts Tagged ‘Port of Melbourne’

Photos from ten years ago: August 2008

Another instalment in my photos from ten years ago series – this time it is August 2008, and it’s so big I’ve split it into three parts.

Looking back towards the city from beneath the western section of the movable roof

Melbourne’s paused port rail project

Increasing the market share of freight moved by rail to the Port of Melbourne – a worthy aim, but in September 2015 it was revealed that a project to achieve this had been shelved by the State Government, pending privatisation of the port. So what is really going on, and what have they decided not to build?

Container ships berthed at Swanson Dock

Subsidising rail freight in Victoria

If you have even driven on country Victoria’s highways, you may have noticed the plague of potholes and bumps – all thanks to a constant procession of heavy vehicles kicking the stuffing out of the road surface, combined with a lack of maintenance. Encouraging freight transport to move from road to rail could fix the problem, but it turns out there is already a State Government program in place to do so.

'You still there?'

Failed port shuttle trains in Melbourne

For residents of the inner west of Melbourne, the endless procession of trucks carrying containers from the Port of Melbourne has been concern for many years. One proposed solution is the operation of port shuttle trains, which could carry containers directly from the wharves to ‘inland ports’ on existing industrial land, where the cargo will then be distributed to factories and warehouses. So why are such services not running today?

Containers flats in the common user sidings at Appleton Dock

How do you refuel a ship?

Have you ever wondered how ships get refuelled while in port? Unlike cars, ships don’t get taken to a petrol station, but the tanker comes to them.

Shell Australia’s bunker vessel 'MV Zemira'