TasPorts Pushes for New Bunkering Option at Hobart

TasPorts suggests that a bunker barge operating at Macquarie Point would reduce risk. File Image / Pixabay

Tasmanian Ports Corporation Pty. Ltd. (TasPorts) is pushing for a $6-8 million fuel barge for Hobart's wharf as part of an effort to make bunkering safer and more efficient, making the port more inviting as an Antarctic gateway in the process, local media reports.

TasPorts suggests that a bunker barge could load at Self's Point and bunker vessels at Macquarie Point, eliminating risk derived from ships transiting under the Tasman Bridge for refuelling.

"The requirement for vessels to visit Self's Point for refuelling has long been considered one of the major safety risks for Hobart port operations, and TasPorts has explored various possible solutions to the problem," stated TasPorts to a parliamentary committee inquiry last week.

"TasPorts has recently been investigating fuel barge options, and has found that a barge is an operationally viable option, but their projections of demand would not deliver a sufficient return to make this viable as a commercial investment for the organisation."

A company spokesperson has said that TasPort is exploring various options for funding, including financial support from fuel companies for the service.

With Antarctic vessels able to load more than one million litres of bunker fuel and/or one million litres of station fuel each voyage, TasPorts says current inadequate bunkering capacity at Hobart has meant that "efforts to attract other nations to stage their Antarctic activities out of Tasmania are unlikely to succeed."

Last week, Ship & Bunker reported that the Tasmanian Environment Protection Authority (EPA) is set to monitor air quality around the Port of Hobart to determine if cruise ship emissions have reached harmful levels.