North Wharf in its present form came into being as a massive levee constructed with the vast volume of earth excavated from Victoria Harbour and dredged material from many other projects to straighten, widen and deepen Birrarung/Yarra. As you walk along North Wharf Road from its endpoint towards the CBD, there are many signs of the evolutionary and transformative changes that have taken place, not just in the immediate surrounds, but also in the world of shipping. The ‘heritage’ vessels tied up along the wharf are a clear illustration of this.

Enterprize is a fully operational replica of the vessel built in Hobart 1830 by William Harvey and William Pender and first sailed to Melbourne in 1835 under the auspices of John Pascoe Fawkner, for a longtime regarded as a founder of Melbourne. A 27-metre topsail schooner, it was the first non-Indigenous vessel to travel up the Birrarung/Yarra. Originally built for the coastal trade, the Enterprize had to be ‘warped’ [hauled using an anchor] from the mouth of the meandering Birrarung/Yarra through snags and encumbrances along the river bed and its banks. Enterprize is an example of the original ‘tall ships’ that filled Port Phillip Bay in the latter decades of the nineteenth century.

Alma Doepel is a rare three-masted topsail schooner designed for coastal trading, which worked for nearly 60 years before retiring in 1975. Constructed in 1903, fitted with an auxiliary engine in 1916, and again in 1936, in a 1937 refit her rig was simplified from having square topsails on the foremast to having a fore-and-after rig. Alma Doepel is currently being restored to become a sail training vessel for youth.

Steam Tug Wattle is a typical small harbour tug used in the management of ships and materials within harbour confines. Wattle was constructed in 1933 at Cockatoo Island, Sydney and spent the next thirty-nine years as a non-commissioned vessel of the Royal Australian Navy. Designed with an oil-fired compound steam engine, this harbour tug is one of less than twenty ships of this type left in the world. Wattle came to Melbourne in 1979 to be restored and operate as a passenger and special event vessel for Port Phillip. Wattle has a National Trust (Vic) citation, is on the Australian Register of Historic Ships and is currently undergoing major restoration works by volunteers.

The state agency, Development Victoria, has commissioned commercial developers Lendlease to construct a series real estate tower developments along North Wharf. This will result in the demolition of all Heritage Fleet working spaces and the loss of adjacent berths. Re-location of the Heritage Fleet from Victoria Harbour is problematic for the Fleet and is currently being contested (2025). Re-location of the Heritage Fleet is contrary to previous Development Victoria policy which supported the presence of heritage vessels in Victoria Harbour. The dispute is unresolved. Fortunately thanks to heritage preservation constraints, evidence of port infrastructure and operations will remain in the form of the extensive metal rail network running along the entire length of North Wharf on the harbour side. 

FURTHER READING

• Enterprise: https://www1.enterprize.org.au/
• Alma Doepel: https://www.almadoepel.com.au/
• Wattle: https://baysteamersmaritimemuseum.org.au/

IMAGE CREDITS
Image 1: Steam Tug Wattle, photographer Jeff Malley 1993
Image 2: https://www1.enterprize.org.au/