The Port of Newcastle is a major seaport in the city of

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , 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 Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. It is the world's largest

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...

port. It is made up of facilities located at Port Hunter - Yohaaba in the

Hunter River Hunter River may refer to: *Hunter River (New South Wales), Australia *Hunter River (Western Australia) *Hunter River, New Zealand *Hunter River (Prince Edward Island), Canada **Hunter River, Prince Edward Island, community on Hunter River, Canada ...

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 The Port Authority of New South Wales, is a corporation owned by the State Government of New South Wales, Australia. The Port Authority acts as harbourmaster at the State's six commercial seaports, managing shipping movements, safety, security ...

. 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 Ha ...

and

Newcastle Coal Infrastructure Group Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

Kooragang Island Kooragang () is the northernmost and largest suburb of the city of Newcastle, in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. Dominated by Kooragang Island, the eastern part of the suburb is primarily industrial, while the western part of th ...

, as well as other operators at Mayfield, Carrington and Walsh Point. There are plans to build a cruise terminal. In April 2014 Premier

Mike Baird Michael Bruce Baird (born 1 April 1968) is an Australian investment banker and former politician who was the 44th Premier of New South Wales, the Minister for Infrastructure, the Minister for Western Sydney, and the Leader of the New South W ...

and Treasurer

Andrew Constance Andrew James Constance (born 31 October 1973) is a former Australian politician and was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly representing Bega for the Liberal Party between 2003 and December 2021. Constance served as the New S ...

announced that a "a consortium which comprises

Hastings Funds Management Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west at ...

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 Chinese Ministry of Transport. Founded in 1872 China Merchants Steam Navig ...

" had successfully bid $1.75 billion for a 98-year lease of the Port of Newcastle.

History

Pre-colonial history

The

Awabakal people The Awabakal people , are those Aboriginal Australians who identify with or are descended from the Awabakal tribe and its clans, Indigenous to the coastal area of what is now known as the Hunter Region of New South Wales. Their traditional te ...

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 envir ...

harvested by local clans for thousands of years formed enormous

midden A midden (also kitchen midden or shell heap) is an old dump for domestic waste which may consist of animal bone, human excrement, botanical material, mollusc shells, potsherds, lithics (especially debitage), and other artifacts and ecofact ...

s 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,

Nobbys Head Nobbys Head ( Aboriginal and dual name: ''Whibayganba'') is a headland located on the southern entrance to Newcastle Harbour, New South Wales, Australia. The headland is situated above the Hunter River and the Tasman Sea of the South Pacific Oc ...

, Stockton Bight, Stockton Beach (Newcastle Beach), Oyster Bank, Williams River and inland

Raymond Terrace Raymond Terrace is a town in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia, about by road north of Newcastle on the Pacific Highway. Established in 1837 it is situated at the confluence of the Hunter and Williams rivers. The town was nam ...

. File:Shipwreck of the Regent Murray.jpg, Shipwreck of the ''Regent Murray'', Newcastle Harbour, NSW, 4 April 1899 File:Shipwrecks Regent Murray Wendouree Lindus 1899.jpg, Shipwrecks ''Regent Murray'', ''Wendouree'' and ''Lindus'', Newcastle Harbour, NSW, 1899 File:Bretagne 1915.jpg, ''Bretagne'' in Newcastle Harbour, NSW, 1915

References

{{Australian cruise terminals

History

Pre-colonial history

Shipwrecks

See also

References