| | | COMMUNITY NEWSLETTER | SEPTEMBER 2023 | | | | | | | 
| Welcome to the Spring edition of our Port's community newsletter.
As one of the country's most diverse ports, we see a wide range of products crossing our berths every year. In this issue, we celebrate some milestone moments for several industries, including Australia's first UK-bound shipment of sugar in more than 50 years, the completion of the largest Talisman Sabre exercise to date, and Townsville's upcoming record cruise season, which will commence in November.
We're also proud to share some of our recent Planet initiatives, including the release of this year's Waterways Report Card and the installation of Queensland's first Purple Hive, which is using artificial intelligence to help us bolster our defences against the Varroa mite.
You may have recently contributed to our port's annual Community Survey.
We are grateful to everyone who took part in providing valuable feedback on how our team can continue improving our connection with the local community.
Over the coming months, we will roll out a number of activities in response to the feedback you've provided. One of the most common requests we receive is from people wanting to take a look behind the Port gates, and I am pleased to share that we will be holding hop-on hop-off bus tours these September school holidays. Tours will be free to join, however places are limited and we ask that you book in advance to secure your seat.
Please enjoy reading our latest updates, and remember you can find our most up to date news on our Facebook page.
Happy reading.
Ranee Crosby
Chief Executive Officer | | | | | | | | | 
| | Port Fund supports diverse and inclusive communities
Thirteen community projects contributing to diverse and inclusive communities across North Queensland have received a boost through our annual $50,000 Community Fund.
Many of this year's successful applicants are forging important new or improved opportunities for community members to participate in important employment, social and recreational activities across our region.
The Rotary Club of Townsville Sunrise is using funds from the Port Community Fund to establish a Strand Starfish program to provide an opportunity for children with physical and intellectual disabilities and learning difficulties to take part in surf lifesaving activities.
Other beneficiaries for 2023 are Happy Vibes Café who will establish a coffee cart employing people living with a disability, Story Dogs Queensland who will train and deploy five new dog teams to help local primary school students learn to read and NQ Queer Society who will receive support to stage the second annual Queer Candy event for Townsville's LGBTQI+ community and allies. | | | 
| | | | | | | | Safe boating
Boaties are advised to exercise caution on the water with a number of activities happening in and around Cleveland Bay.
Backhoe dredge Woomera is widening the shipping channel and as work progresses, will be moving from the harbour entrance to the Sea Channel adjacent to Magnetic Island. Please remain 100 metres away from the dredge and barges at all times.
Maintenance dredging will be taking place in Cleveland Bay and at the mouth of the Ross River from mid-September. The campaigns will take about a month. Stick to the speed limit and tune in to VHF 12 and 16 when out on the water. | | | | | | | | | Join our Community Liaison Group
We are currently seeking community-minded people to join our Community Liaison Group (CLG).
Our CLG meets quarterly on a Wednesday evening and members include port customers, community groups and individuals who have a strong interest in the operations of the port, port sustainability and future port development plans.
Members are encouraged to contribute to the bi-monthly agenda, which includes trade performance and potential new cargo, environmental monitoring results, major project information, cruise and defence ship attraction progress, and community engagement initiatives. | | | 
| | | | | | | | Commemorating HMAS Magnetic
The Maritime Museum of Townsville is inviting all members of the public to attend a plaque unveiling ceremony to commemorate the site of Australian Naval Base, HMAS Magnetic.
During World War II, more than 500 personnel were based at HMAS Magnetic, which was located where ANZAC Park stands today. Personnel at the Base were tasked with the defence of our Port and their strategies included anti-aircraft gun emplacements along the breakwater, as well as sea mines placed in the shipping channel to prevent attack from midget submarines.
Attend the plaque unveiling ceremony:
10.30am, Tuesday, 10 October 2023 at ANZAC Park, the Strand. | | | | | | | | | | | 
| | Queensland-first Purple Hive bolsters Varroa mite fight
The Port of Townsville has become the first site in Queensland to use artificial intelligence to monitor for destructive bee pest Varroa destructor following the installation of Purple Hive technology on Port land at Archer Street, South Townsville.
The Port partnered with Biosecurity Queensland and the Purple Hive Project, an initiative by Vimana Tech, supported by Bega Group in a Queensland first to monitor for the pest which has the ability to decimate Australia's agriculture industry.
Bees carrying varroa mites can enter Australia on vessels or in freight. Left unchecked, varroa mites can kill off honey bees and in turn have a crippling effect on plants that require the pollinators to reproduce.
Varroa destructor was recently found in Australia for the first time in NSW.
Townsville was at the forefront of the fight against Varroa mite following detections of Varroa jacobsoni in 2016, 2019 and 2020 and while these incursions have been officially eradicated, we have continued to work alongside Biosecurity Queensland to ensure Queensland remains varroa mite free. | | | 
| | | | | | | | National Tree Day
The team from South32 Cannington Mine and students from Heatley Secondary College rolled up their sleeves and planted more than 300 trees in our Environmental Park for National Tree Day.
Heatley's motto is "our future is our focus" and planting a tree is the perfect example of how a small action today, can lead to a big difference tomorrow! | | | | | | | | | Clean up of Lucinda foreshore
Port of Townsville recently cleaned up a large amount of rubbish along the foreshore at the Lucinda Port.
More than 700 tonnes of unlawfully placed material was removed and replaced with 500 tonnes of rock for erosion protection. Bollards have also been installed to prevent future dumping. The Port will carry out further concrete removal and revegetation works over the coming months. | | | | | | | | | Waterways Report Card 2023 out now
Port of Townsville has again contributed a range of water quality and environmental monitoring data to the annual Waterways Report Card.
Produced by the Dry Tropics Partnership for Healthy Waters, the Report Card compiles data from more than 20 contributing organisations to provide a wholistic snapshot of waterway health across our region.
Bringing all this data together allows Partners to mount collaborative responses to the catchment areas most in need of better management and intervention.
This year's call to action from the Report Card is to #BackTheBohle, which encourages Partners and the broader community to join forces and share resources to amplify the positive impact of actions taken to improve the Bohle catchment. | | 
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| | Channel Upgrade progress
The Port's Channel Upgrade project continues to steam ahead, with less than 1 million cubic metres of dredge material left to be removed from our shipping channels.
Widening the shipping channels from 92m to 180m at the inshore (Port) end, tapering to 120m at the seaward end is critical to ensure larger ships up to 300m in length can safety access the Port, instead of bypassing Townsville.
Backhoe dredge Woomera started the channel widening on 15 March 2022 and more than 2.4 million cubic metres out of the total 3.4 million cubic metres has now been removed from the channel.
All capital dredge material is being brought back to land for placement in a 62ha reclamation area (pictured above), which will be used to facilitate future Port expansion.
Most of the work is being done in the Platypus Channel (close to the Port), with about 10 per cent taking place in the Sea Channel adjacent to Magnetic Island.
Dredging is on track for completion in early 2024, when we will be able to welcome larger commercial, cruise and Defence vessels to Townsville. | | | | | | | | | Pedal to the metal on car imports
We have recently completed construction of a new $3.6 million laydown area just in time for a record shipment of new motor vehicles
More than 1,700 cars pulled into port aboard three car carriers coming from manufacturers in Japan and Thailand. The number of vehicles arriving over two days was more than our Port would typically see in a full month, and placed Townsville 18 per cent ahead of our motor vehicle import figures for the same time last year.
Port of Townsville General Manager Customer, Safety and Operations Drew Penny said the Port was expecting motor vehicle imports to continue accelerating over the coming months. | | | 
| | | | | | | | London Calling
The first Australian shipment of raw sugar to the UK in 50 years was loaded at the Port of Townsville in July.
The 33,000 tonne shipment will be the first of many after the new Australia-United Kingdom Free Trade Agreement came into play.
The raw sugar, produced in the Burdekin, took about 24 hours to load aboard the MS Port Macau before undertaking the journey to a refinery on the Thames in London.
Tariff-free raw sugar exports to the UK will increase from an initial allocation of 80,000 tonnes this year (pro rata) until tariffs are completely eliminated on 1 January 2031.
Under the deal, the value of Australian raw sugar exports to the UK could reach $74 million next year. | | | | | | | | | Port supports Talisman Sabre 2023
There was a flurry of military activity at our Port throughout July and August as our hosted the largest bilateral military training activity between the US and Australian Defence Forces, Talisman Sabre 2023.
The 10th biannual exercise was the largest yet and involved more than 30,000 personnel from 13 nations including Fiji, France, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, PNG, Tonga, the UK, Canada and Germany.
We were lucky enough to play host to American war ships which drew plenty of attention from the public as they docked at our Port for refueling.
The USS America cut an impressive sight as she steamed into Port on Sunday, 9 July, with multiple Ospreys and other aircraft on deck. | | | | | | | | | Cruising into a record season
We are preparing for our busiest cruise season yet with 18 vessels booked to dock in our city from November 2023 to March 2024.
And the exciting news is that Townsville is set to become a top cruising destination with eight megaliners from six different companies scheduled to visit our city from January 2025, when our Channel Upgrade project is complete.
This season, the first cruise ship to arrive will be Silver Muse on 23 November 2023, carrying about 600 passengers and 400 crew. The guests will bring a welcome injection to the local economy with each passenger spending an average $200 at local businesses during their stay.
The best location for viewing cruise ships is from the breakwater wall near the Townsville Entertainment and Convention Centre. | | 
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| | Port launches a hiring spree as growth trajectory heats up
The Port of Townsville is embarking on a recruitment drive for a number of roles across the organisation as we prepare for accelerated trade demand from the North Queensland region.
Over the coming months, we will be recruiting for a number of multidisciplinary positions across the business, including entry-level positions, professional, technical and administrative roles.
CEO Ranee Crosby said as the Port continues to grow, adding new talent to our existing pool will be central to delivering on our vision for the future.
"Townsville's port is growing in every sense – we are well underway with the biggest port expansion in our near 160-year history, annual trade volumes are expected to triple by 2050 and demand for defence and cruise shipping capacity is rapidly increasing," Ranee said.
"North Queensland's growth potential is picking up at enormous pace as new projects in rare earth, critical minerals, renewable energy and tourism come to realisation; and this presents opportunities for our ports."
The creation of new roles will position us to drive Port Vision 2050, which aligns our strategic objectives and initiatives with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals to contribute to a broader global agenda. | | |
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