Hay Point (Port)

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Maintenance dredging commences at the Port of Hay Point

Essential maintenance dredging at the Port of Hay Point is scheduled to commence this weekend. The works will be undertaken by specialist vessel the TSHD Brisbane, on behalf of North Queensland Bulk Ports Corporation (NQBP) and the port’s terminal operators. NQBP Chief Executive Officer Nicolas Fertin said the Port of Hay Point primarily exports metallurgical coal, a key resource in steel-making.

39 ships waiting for coal outside DBCT

The wait time for ships to pick up coal has stretched to three weeks. The main function of DBCT is to receive, process and store millions of tonnes of metallurgical and thermal coal extracted from mines in the central Bowen Basin. This coal is then loaded onto ships to be exported around the world. DBCT is only one portion of the entire coal supply chain. The other main components are the coal mines, the rail networks and the other coal export terminals. Damage to the Goonyella rail line caused significant delays and stockpiling after Cyclone Debbie. The coal is extracted from a combination of open cut and underground mines by the mining companies and then processed to a point where it can be stockpiled in preparation for loading onto incoming coal trains. When the train reaches the terminal, it passes through one of three inloading rail receival stations where the coal is dumped out of the open bottom of the train and onto conveyors that then transfer the coal to the DBCT stockyard. The stockyard holds different types of coal in stockpiles that can then be reclaimed and transferred via kilometres of conveyors to shiploaders 3.8 kilometres offshore. The shiploaders load the coal onto vessels that ship the coal to ports all over the world. Source: MiningMonthly

Dalrymple Bay coal vessel queue moving slowly

The vessel queue off Dalrymple Bay port in Australia’s Queensland is subsiding more slowly than expected nearly a month after maintenance on its berth 2 was due to be completed. There were 44 vessels at Dalrymple Bay today, down only slightly from 47 a month ago and still more than double the usual queue of 18-20. Waiting times at the port are still up to a month, although this is down on the six-week waiting time for some vessels in early December. Initial shipping data suggest Dalrymple Bay shipped around 6.3mn t in December. Shipping data, which uses the maximum dead weight tonnage of a vessel, often over estimates the shipments. Shipping data suggested Dalrymple Bay shipped 5.6mn t in November but official port data put the figure at 5.18mn t. The initial data shows that shipments increased in December over November but were still down on the 6.6mn t shipped in December last year and on the 6.64mn t shipped in October. Official port data for December should be available later this week. Berth 2 was closed for maintenance for most of November and only loaded its first cargo on 10 December, rather than 5 December as had been anticipated. This delayed restart contributed to the lower shipments in December that have meant that the congestion at the port has not cleared as quickly as had been expected. The congestion was caused by a combination of overallocation in September and October and the maintenance at berth 2. The port was contracted at an annualised rate of up to 100mn t of coal in September and October but only has a maximum rated capacity of 85mn t/yr. Dalrymple Bay exports are mainly coking coal, although the port also ships thermal coal. http://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/dalrymple-bay-coal-vessel-queue-moving-slowly/