If an accident resulted in a ship blocking the than the entrance to Western Port. Safety standards are Great Ship Channel, a number of strategies in place at each location to reduce the risk of navigation could be used to minimise the impact of the to acceptable levels. While we were often asked if there restriction: was a strong benefit for strategic redundancy of having container ports in separate bays we consider there is a Ships with smaller draught could low risk of an incident blocking the Heads. As a result, it continue to transit the Heads using one was not a key driver in decision making for port location. of the adjacent shallower channels. Tugs could be used to move the Which technical reports should I look at for more grounded ship or hold it in a position that allowed other ships to pass. information? Salvage experts could be called in to GHD, Infrastructure Victoria Second Container refloat and remove the grounded ship. Port Advice Estimated Capacity of the Port of – The time taken to clear a blocked channel would Melbourne, 2017 depend on the nature of the incident. In an AECOM, Infrastructure Victoria Second extreme case it could take weeks, but several Port Advice Navigation Study, 2017 – days is considered far more likely. Navigating through the Heads is more complex
If an accident resulted in a ship blocking the Great Ship Channel, a number of strategies could be used to minimise the impact of the restriction: Ships with smaller draught could continue to transit the Heads using one of the adjacent shallower channels. Tugs could be used to move the grounded ship or hold it in a position that allowed other ships to pass. Salvage experts could be called in to refloat and remove the grounded ship. The time taken to clear a blocked channel would depend on the nature of the incident. In an extreme case it could take weeks, but several days is considered far more likely. Navigating through the Heads is more complex than the entrance to Western Port. Safety standards are in place at each location to reduce the risk of navigation to acceptable levels. While we were often asked if there was a strong benefit for strategic redundancy of having container ports in separate bays we consider there is a low risk of an incident blocking the Heads. As a result, it was not a key driver in decision making for port location. Which technical reports should I look at for more information? GHD, Infrastructure Victoria Second Container Port Advice – Estimated Capacity of the Port of Melbourne, 2017 AECOM, Infrastructure Victoria Second Port Advice – Navigation Study, 2017
Advice%20on%20securing%20Victoria's%20ports%20-%20accessible%20version%20-%20FINAL.docx