The Port of Newcastle is a major seaport in the city of
Newcastle,
New South Wales
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, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
,
Australia. It is the world's largest
coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as stratum, rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen ...
port.
It is made up of facilities located at Port Hunter - Yohaaba in the
Hunter River estuary. The port was the first commercial export port in Australia and is the world's busiest coal export port. Annual exports of coal from Newcastle exceeded A$15 billion in 2012–13. Newcastle berthed more than 2,200 ships a year in 2012–13.
The port's harbourmaster is the
Port Authority of New South Wales. Cargo facilities are operated by
Port Waratah Coal Services
A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...
and
Newcastle Coal Infrastructure Group at
Kooragang Island, as well as other operators at
Mayfield,
Carrington
Carrington and Carington are surnames originating from one of the Carringtons in England, or from the town of Carentan in Normandy, France. It is also rarely a given name.
Surname Scientists
* Alan Carrington (1934–2013), British chemist
*Benj ...
and Walsh Point. There are plans to build
a cruise terminal.
In April 2014 Premier
Mike Baird and Treasurer
Andrew Constance announced that a "a consortium which comprises
Hastings Funds Management and Chinese state-owned
China Merchants
China Merchants Group Limited () is an international state-owned corporation (SOE) of the People's Republic of China. The company is operating under the auspices of the Ministry of Transport of the People's Republic of China, Chinese Ministry of ...
" had successfully bid $1.75 billion for a 98-year lease of the Port of Newcastle.
History
Pre-colonial history
The
Awabakal people were the inhabitants of Newcastle (Muloobinba) living around the harbour and foreshore prior to European contact. Discarded shells of
shellfish
Shellfish is a colloquial and fisheries term for exoskeleton-bearing aquatic invertebrates used as food, including various species of molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms. Although most kinds of shellfish are harvested from saltwater env ...
harvested by local clans for thousands of years formed enormous
middens which were burned by Europeans to produce lime for building purposes.
In July 2016, Port Hunter was officially dual named Yohaaba, its local Indigenous name.
Shipwrecks
It has been estimated that over 200 vessels have been lost entering or leaving the Port of Newcastle. Vessels have been recorded lost in and around the areas of Port Hunter,
Hunter River,
Nobbys Head, Stockton Bight, Stockton Beach (Newcastle Beach), Oyster Bank,
Williams River and inland
Raymond Terrace.
See also
*
List of ports in Australia
This is a list of ports in Australia. It includes all gazetted ports, harbours, havens, roadsteads and marinas.
This list is complete with respect to the 1996 Gazetteer of Australia. Gazetteer of Australia (1996). Belconnen, ACT: Australian Su ...
*
Port Darwin another port with a 99-year lease with a Chinese company
References
{{Australian cruise terminals
Newcastle