We are currently travelling in our caravan, and last week we spent several days in the Stockton Beach Caravan Park, at the mouth of the Hunter River, Newcastle, NSW. The coal loading facility in the Port of Newcastle is the largest in the world with a loading capacity of 133 million tonnes per year. Needless to say this amount of coal generates a lot of maritime traffic with bulk carriers of up to 200,000 tonnes deadweight, and a length of 300 metres able to be accommodated. In the time we were there quite a few entered and left the port, escorted by up to four tugs each. All the tugs I saw were Svitzer, and some photos are below, including a shot of one of the larger bulkers at over 175,000 tonnes dwt. Note that the tug Ginga is returning to port stern first.
The infrastructure of this facility has to be seen to be believed, especially at night when it is lit up like a gigantic Christmas tree. The vast majority of the coal arrives by trains carrying 7 to 8 thousand tonnes of coal each, with an average of 26 trains per day continuously dumping coal.
Peter.