Greetings all

Should summer ever arrive in Victoria and should the weeks of the wind and rain cease, may you enjoy the Festive Season ahead. Perhaps commence with a wonderful invitation to gladden the hearts of maritime enthusiasts:Exhibition of Marine and Maritime Art

The Australian Society of Maritime Artists invites you to an Exhibition of Marine and Maritime Art, to be held 2-14 December 2022.

This is an inaugural event Australian Society of Marine Artists (ASMA) in collaboration with the Victorian Artists Society (VSA). ASMA was formed 25 years ago to provide a forum and exhibiting platform supporting the interest of its members: artists, sculptors, model makers, historians, students, lay persons and other maritime organisations interested in maritime affairs and importantly to cooperate in recording Australia’s maritime history – past and present. There will be an official opening on Sunday 4 December with an opportunity to meet with like-minded artists and those interested in the unique Marine/Maritime Genre.

And there is more! Opportunity – Maritime Painting in Watercolour 

On Saturday and Sunday, 10 and 11 December, maritime artist Julian Bruere will conduct a two-day workshop exploring water colour maritime painting – looking at, and practicalities relating to painting the sea and sailing vessels from of a bygone era. limited to 15 participants.
Contact: studioartist@optusnet.com.au

 

Contents: 
(Click on the headings below for specific items, or scroll down for the full Update)

1. Central Pier Saga
2. King Street Bridge Collapse
3. The Fish Market – The real tragedy of the King Street Bridge collapse
4. Point Gellibrand Pile Light
5. Nova Scotia Mystery Seafarer with a Melbourne Connection
6. Water water everywhere – fortunately in some ways
7. Fisheries Research and Development (FRDS)
8. Who’s really watching Port Phillip Bay? The ‘beating blue heart’ of Victoria
9. Floods mean rubbish
10. Spirit of Tasmania exits Station Pier
11. MMHN Vision for Station Pier – Gateway to ‘Maritime Melbourne’ 
12. A Ferry in Docklands?
13. Campaspe Port Enterprise
14. Melbourne’s 60th Boat Show
15. Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) Certification
16. Melbourne Osaka Double-handed Yacht Race – March 2025- Update
17. Painters and Dockers – maritime stakeholders are very colourful
18. Tug Boat Trouble
19. Cargo by Sail: Ideology and Practicality
20. Maritime Men of the Asia-Pacific
21. Where would you rather be? Perhaps the Antarctic?

1. Central Pier Saga

A reminder – the sad reality is that with the demolition of Central set to commence, Victoria Harbour will lose major maritime heritage. Maritime stakeholders can make a difference to what might come next. We are at a pivotal point in Victoria’s maritime legacy. The responsible authority, Development Victoria, is now calling for submissions on what we expect to replace our maritime asset and how to re-vitalise the degraded Docklands Precinct waterfront. This is the link: Central Pier and waterfront revitalisation. Some questions are tick-box, others allow more comment. Submit before 22 December. MMHN is obviously keen to submit our ‘vision’ for a Maritime Experience Centre on Victoria’s First Floating Pier – the most appropriate and cost-effective re-instatement of Central Pier and the eroded Docklands maritime heritage. MMHN strongly encourages you all to support this vision, Make a difference through your submission.
See the MMVN proposal:  https://mmhn.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/MMHN-Opportunity-1-Maritime-Centre-Sept-2021.pdf
And for information about a successful floating Pier in Hobart, see: https://www.brookestreetpier.com

2. King Street Bridge Collapse

Overwhelmed by the enormity of the West Gate collapse, the collapse of the King Street Bridge is seldom noted. There was no loss of life. With the boom in car ownership traffic, in 1954 Country Roads Board plans for a bridge were implemented by the Metropolitan Board of Works (MMBW). The works were subcontracted to Utah (Aust) by 1957. In 1962 the collapse commenced when a truck was crossing under the bridge. The hapless driver stopped on the bridge, jumped out, saw what was happening, jumped in and quickly drove on. Girders cracked with a noise so alarming that it was heard all over town. A disastrous descent into the Yarra was averted as girders fell to rest on concrete pylons. A Royal Commission found fault not with the design, but in technicalities around mis-handling specific materials.This excellent video explains the incident with great footage of mid 20th century Melbourne.
See: https://youtu.be/MHfv6laHo-Y

3. The Fish Market – the real tragedy of the King Street Bridge collapse 

From the MMHN perspective, while acknowledge the importance of bridges as maritime infrastructure, the real tragedy attached to the King Street Bridge collapse is the inexplicable demolition of Melbourne’s splendid brick edifice along the Yarra, on the corner of Flinders and Kings Street. It was destroyed to enable construction of the King Street Bridge. The fisheries industry played a crucial role in Melbourne in the splendid brick building crowned with a clocktower, turrets and copper spires. Fish was Big Business then – as it is now.

Image: Fish Market. City of Melbourne Collection circa 1900.

4. Point Gellibrand Pile Light  

MMHN congratulates all concerned at Seaworks at the restoration of this iconic maritime infrastructure and the Launch of the new Interpretative Exhibit at Seaworks. In 2019 the National Trust gifted the Gellibrand Pile Light to Seaworks. In partnership with the Williamstown Historical Society, Hobsons Bay City Council and others, the Point Gellibrand Pile Light has been restored to its former ‘glory’. The project involved stabilising metal work, repainting, reglazing the light bell, new illumination, and interpretive signage, bringing this iconic structure back to life.MMHN recommends a fascinating source of further information, ‘Lighthouses of Australia Inc.’ which describes the treacherous reef off Williamstown, the series of lights, beginning with three separate lightships over the mid-late 1800s, to a pile light which lasted seventy years before it was dramatically destroyed when hit by a ship. The Gellibrand Lighthouse stood at the head of Melbourne Channel from 1906, lying off Williamstown’s Point Gellibrand until on the foggy morning of 21 June 1976, the pile light was hit by the vessel Melbourne Trader. The force of the collision snapped the piles at waterline.

We encourage you to see for yourself and discover the extent of the restoration works and the other maritime treasures at Seaworks The launch for the restored Pile Light will be held at Seaworks on Wednesday 7 December.

See: https://lighthouses.org.au/vic/point-gellibrand-pile-light/

 


Image: Gellibrand Pile and the vessel Melbourne Trader which struck it

5. Nova Scotia Mystery Seafarer with a Melbourne Connection  

While visiting an excellent regional museum The Age of Sail – Museum and Archive at Port Greville outside Wolfville, Nova Scotia, an interesting question was put to me: Could I find any information regarding the ancestor of the Director, Oralee O’Byrne? Scant information below. Thoughts anyone?

  • Ship Captain John E Collins
  • Born 1855 in the town of Advocate, Nova Scotia
  • Died 1890 or 1891 – thought to have died at sea, October 1890. However, a letter from a great nephew claims he died in hospital in Melbourne in 1891.
  • Supposedly his daughter Neaty saw a stone or cairn marking his grave in Melbourne in the early 1900s.

The Age of Sail is operated by the Greville Bay Shipbuilding Museum Society dedicated to the conservation of the lumbering and shipbuilding history of Parrsboro at Minas Port on the shore on the Bay of Fundy. For almost 200 years it was a major shipbuilding area for Tall Ships, pleasure boats and the fishing fleet. Over 700 sailing vessels were built. However, Wagstaff and Hatfield Draggers still operate today in the Maritime Provinces.

See: https://archives.novascotia.ca/communityalbums/agesail/archives/?ID=200

 

 

6. Water water everywhere – fortunately in some ways

Mangroves, seagrass beds and tidal marshes are now understood as Blue Carbon Ecosystems and as such are among the most efficient carbon sinks on earth. Protecting and restoring wetlands is critical for mitigating and adapting to #climatechange#COP27

Diagram below shows Blue v green ecosystems carbon burial rate (Tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent).

 

Image: Wetlands Website

7. Fisheries Research and Development (FRDS)

Yet another acronym to take on board! But an important one for the maritime sector. A statutory corporation responsible to the Minister for Agriculture; co-funded partnership between the federal government, fisheries and aquaculture tasked with playing a key role in fisheries research planning and investment; support sustainable aquatic sector and aquatic ecosystems in four main areas: Indigenous, aquaculture, commercial, and recreational fishing. Here are links to three interesting reports produced so far: A digital future for fishing and aquaculture about the Australian AgriFood Data Exchange initiative Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning uses historic and current data from multiple sources to provide predictions on the highest value and largest accumulations of target species, with minimal risk of interaction with Threatened, Endangered and Protected Species.Tuna Champions How are recreational fishers to know how to catch, handle, release, keep and prepare Southern Bluefin Tuna to make the most of every fish caught.

Circular Economy Opportunities for fisheries and aquaculture in Australia There are opportunities to reduce waste and carbon in Australian fishing and aquaculture, e.g., cooperative resource sharing, particularly equipment energy, cost savings and waste reduction, longer-life span packaging, recycling of bio-fouled plastics and plant-derived plastics.

 

8. Who’s really watching Port Phillip Bay? The ‘beating blue heart’ of Victoria.

MMHN thanks Troy Muir of Polperro Dolphin & Sea Swims, one of three maritime tour operators for sharing the following insights. All tour operators are utterly dependent on sustaining this amazing ‘beating blue heart’ of Victoria and all are keenly aware of the need for vigilance. Threats to this tremendous body of water and the sea life within it are real. Research and monitoring through organisation such as FRDC are an important investment certainly, but protecting their livelihood also focusses the mind. Commercial dolphin tour operators have been dolphin watching for 40 years. Even before that, dolphins regularly surfed the bow wave of the old Sorrento-Portsea-Queenscliff passenger ferries.While most new species are generally identified in remote wilderness areas, the habitat of the Burrunan dolphin (Tursiops Australis) is the Bay – in the heart of our major metropolis. In 2011 the Victorian State Government confirmed what many of us already knew; Port Phillip Bay’s dolphins are special, arriving soon after the area was inundated. Dolphin sponge gardens, vast sandy plains and rocky reefs are part of the Bay’s unique habitat.

The presence of dolphins is regarded as a ‘litmus test’ for the health of the waters in which they live. Dolphin tourism in Port Phillip began in earnest when the Port Phillip Bay Dolphin Research Group, now known as the Dolphin Research Institute, engaged the Muir family and their Pompei built dive charter vessel, ‘Polperro’, initially as a research vessel and later to conduct swims. Other operators joined this burgeoning Cetacean-based tourism industry. Predictably the Bay’s dolphins were adversely impacted by unfettered engagement. Responsible operators stepped up, lobbied government and became actively involved the legislative process in order to ensure a level of protection was implemented to sustain the dolphins, as well as the future viability of the industry. Operators agreed to be bound by a voluntary code of conduct while awaiting the legislative changes necessary for a permit system; strict regulation around the conduct of operators, necessary to protect the dolphins and the industry. Early operators developed practices that have contributed to the safety and protection and many aspects of the current dolphin swim permits are based on initiatives in operation today. From the uncontrolled early days, the system has evolved; limit on the time spent around dolphins on a tour – number of ‘approaches’ that a tour vessel can make within 100 metres on any given day designed to minimise disruptions to the dolphins’ daily lives. Dolphin Tour Permits issued via a tender process by DWELP. capped at 4 operators and valid for 5 years. Permit renewal is through a tender Process. Further, a Parks Victoria License and Advanced Eco-Certification are mandatory requisites.

Polperro sees its role as ethical environmental stewardship in which everyone contributes to the management, conservation and protection of our marine environment and the species it supports. Polperro recognises that conserving the ‘whole’ is necessary to protect the ‘parts’ and that dolphins are part of the intricate tapestry of interwoven relationships on the Bay. The dolphin swim industry in Port Phillip Bay is not adventure tourism, but ecotourism. This is an important distinction and guides the work they do.

 


9. Floods mean rubbish

MMHN member, and Committee member of Yarra Riverkeepers, Janet Bolitho, alerted us to the massive task underway to clear out Bandalong litter traps along the waterways. Parks Victoria is largely responsible – but ultimately it is our problem and it is far from resolved.
If you are interested in the technicalities via an interesting video. See https://www.bandalong.com.au

10. Spirit of Tasmania exits Station Pier 

MMHN Member Janet Bolitho reports a poignant moment for maritime afficionados in the evolving maritime ‘story’ of Station Pier on Saturday, 22 October when A band, appropriately named ‘Lost Port’, played sad farewell songs and people waved their flags in time with the music as the Spirit departed with generous blasts of its familiar horn.See: https://www.portplaces.com/after-the-spirit/

Our thanks to WSS for pointing out that vessels Spirit of Tasmania 1 and 2 now travel to Devonport from Geelong, instead of Station Pier. Their familiar appearances will be missed. Their journey from Geelong to the Rip now takes 3 hours instead of two hours from Station Pier.

 

Images: Station Pier and adjacent Freight Yard: Janet Bolitho

11. MMHN Vision for Station Pier – Gateway to ‘Maritime Melbourne’

MMHN has been refining our vision ‘Re-imagining Station Pier’. The exit of the ferry reinforces our conviction that Station Pier is an undervalued state heritage asset – the cultural value is simply being squandered. Recent experience at the International Congress of Maritime Museums (ICMM) conference in Halifax, Nova Scotia in September provided an inspirational ‘model’ for Melbourne for what can and should be done to optimise the cultural and commercial $ value of Melbourne’s cruise terminal which is languishing and neglected.

Pier 21 on the wharf in Halifax is the equivalent of Station Pier. The community stepped up and advocated to government for an up-grade which converted it into an infrastructure asset which now generates $3 billion p.a. to the city. Pier 21 has all of the features that MMHN argues would turn-around Station Pier. Passengers disembark into the foyer of the Immigration Museum, a Genealogical Centre where migrant families can trace their arrival at Halifax, and an aisle of market stalls offering locally made goods, cafes and restaurants on the wharf, ferries across Halifax Harbour, local bus transport to the CBD, on-off tour buses ‒ all available to passengers on the actual wharf. Pier 21 is buzzing and has also become a destination for domestic tourists.

See: https://pier21.ca
See what MMHN advocates for Station Pier: https://mmhn.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/MMHN-Opportunity-7-Station-Pier.pdf
Anyone interested in helping to pursue this ‘vision’ contact: info@mmhn.org.au

12. A Ferry in Docklands?

MMHN has persistently advocated, given that we have more navigable waterways than Sydney, that ferries should rightly be incorporated into our pubIic transport system. It is hard to fathom why ferries are denied the same level of public funding as any other forms of public transport – buses, trains and trams.

See below – NO this neither a tram or a ferry. It is a novel cruise option, the Melbourne Tramboat. It is NOT a ferry, but it was moored near the new ferry terminal during the recent Boat Show. It is described as
‘The World’s First Floating Tram”.

Image: Tramboat website

13. Campaspe Port Enterprise

Our attention is drawn towards our inland waterways as the regions grapple with extraordinary floods. It is regrettable that we seldom pay adequate attention to, and often undervalue, the significance of inland waterways throughout the development of the nation. However, Campaspe Shire Council, prior to the disastrous floods of 2022, has taken a major step towards acknowledging the economic importance of this inland port in December 2021 in establishing Campaspe Port Enterprise. Campaspe Shire Council announced the appointment of a six-member Board to the Campaspe Port Enterprise (CPE). The focus is to make sure that the Port Precinct delivers both social and economic value to the community, commercial success for business, financial sustainability of the Port of Echuca, and overall increase to tourism visitation. Every element of the Port Precinct is designed to tell the story of this place. The historic buildings, the restored Wharf, the paddle steamers, the heritage artefacts; the rivers, the trees, the wildlife and every aspect of the built environment make an impression. These are all intrinsic to its character. This is the Port.”

See: https://www.portofechuca.org.au/

The Campaspe River has many tributaries, the main one being the Coliban River which joins the Campaspe at Lake Eppalock, the major storage in the catchment. The Campaspe flows through foothills and the riverine plain before it meets the River Murray at Echuca.

 

 

Image: Campaspe Shire Council

14. Melbourne’s 60th Boat Show 

Very pleasing indeed Post Covid to report the success of the 60thMelbourne Boat Show last month. Steve Walker, MMHN Board member and CEO of BIA (Vic), reported that despite uncertain weather forecasts each day, the show attracted record crowds, a very high level of exhibitor satisfaction, great levels of visitor engagement, excellent interface between the on-water and waterfront spaces and the exhibits, well-received stage activations for kids and adults including an on-stage presentation of certificates to 12 ’notable’ young maritime artists from Docklands Primary School who participated in the Inaugural MMHN and OSSA Children’s Maritime Art Exhibition. Many thanks to maritime artist Bridgit Thomas, our judge and to Magnet Galleries for exhibiting more the than 130 works which were submitted by the budding maritime artists.

Image 1: Ross Brewer, a notable artist, and Steve Walker
Image 2: Exhibiting at Magnet Gallery

15. Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) Certification

Consultations on amendment to a range of AMSA certifications have just concluded. Revised Marine Order 505 (Certificates of Competency) will be implemented from 1 January 2023. The new CoCs include:
  • Sailing Master Coastal Near Coastal
  • Sailing Master Offshore Near Coastal
  • Coxswain Grade 3 Near Coastal
  • Master <45 m Near Coastal
  • Master <100 m Near Coastal.

See: https://www.amsa.gov.au

 

 

16. Melbourne Osaka Double-handed Yacht Race – March 2025- Update

MMHN member George Shaw of Sandringham Yacht Club reports steady and most encouraging progress in both Osaka and Australia towards this much-anticipated event. This gruelling yacht race will be hosted in Melbourne by the Sandringham YC and the ‘on water race management’ will be run by the Ocean Racing Club of Victoria.

The race departs Portsea for what is renowned as a serious challenge to even very experienced sailors. The race is considered to be ‘The Everest’ of Australian sailing and is one of the most unique and challenging ocean yacht races. It is the longest longitudinal race in the world. The racecourse traverses the Pacific from south to north over 5500 nautical miles. Such is its global appeal that already there are 138 EOIs drawn from 10 countries. Comprehensive planning for the race is extraordinarily complex – and the lead-time long. Scheduled to align with the World Expo in Osaka – a Sister City to Melbourne, the race is already receiving tremendous attention and support from various levels of government in Osaka and Canberra.

Earlier in 2022 George travelled to Japan as it was emerging from lockdown. This month he travelled to Canberra for meetings with US and Japanese Naval Attaches and the Osaka Taskforce. The event is very much in alignment with the global trend towards a ‘Renaissance of Sail’ in the commercial maritime sector, the theme of this race will be Sustainable Sailing. Participating sailors will conduct ‘micro plastic ocean sampling’ identifying pollutants on the long journey – a novel extension or variation of ‘citizen science’.

MMHN is keen to assist George to bring to fruition plans for a marvellous public event envisaged at the start of the event in Melbourne. Stay tuned.
You may be interested in this race action video:
https://www.youtube.com/@OceanRacingClubofVictoriaORCV

17. Painters and Dockers – maritime stakeholders are very colourful

A ‘blast from the past’ for many of us. Veteran Melbourne rock band The Painters and Dockers were recent special guests at the 150th anniversary celebrations of the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) at Seaworks, Williamstown. Band member Paulie Stewart said “It is only fitting we played at this event and as have a long history with the Union and the maritime industry. We formed at a Port Melbourne hotel where the actual members of the Painters and Dockers Union drank – and that is how we got our name. Next year marks our 40th anniversary and we have now done close to 1500 shows around the world but I always say my favourite ones were on the picket lines during the MUA dispute with Patrick’s Shipping Company.’’ Paulie recalls “One classic night there we had the striking wharfiesFather Bob and the Victorian Police all singing our song, “You’re Going Home In The Back Of A Divi Van’’ in the pouring rain. A classic.The band also played on the Rocking the Docks Tour where we played on the back of a hovercraft at piers around Port Phillip Bay and we launched one album playing live on a tug boat.’ A highlight of the recent MUA gig was when band member Dave Pace sung the old classic Maltese tune TAKE MY HAND honouring the many Maltese dock workers who have worked on Melbourne ports.
Image: Paulie Stewart

18. Tug Boat Trouble

The full bench of the Fair Work Commission recently suspended industrial action at tug boat operator Svitzer for six months. David Marin-Guzman (Financial Review, 24 October 2022): “Port lockout designed to thwart bargaining: FWC” reported that the FWC had outlined its reasons concluding that Svitzer had engineered an “economy-damaging” lockout of port workers in an attempt to end bargaining talks with maritime unions. The proposed lockout of nearly 600 workers would have prevented cargo ships from docking at 17 ports across Australia, resulting in significant supply chain disruptions”. A rarely-used provision of the Fair Work Act allows protected industrial action to be suspended or terminated if it has the potential to cause significant damage to the economy. The adverse impact of this on Christmas retail trade is obvious.

19. Maritime Men of the Asia-Pacific

This is the stirring title of a new book by Diane Kirkby, Lee-Ann Monk and Dmytro Ostapenko sub-titled: True-blue Internationals Navigating Labour Rights 1906-2006 published in the Series Studies in Labour History, Liverpool University. The book places Australian unionism in the context of global activism for maritime labour rights.

 

 

20. Cargo by Sail: Ideology and Practicality

MMHN member Lesley Walker has recommended this article reporting on a recent conference organised by brokers of sail-shipped goods into the UK, New Dawn Traders. A comprehensive program covered every aspect of the new industry legislation, communication, crew management, and importantly evolutionary economic models relevant to ship owners, agents, traders, surveyors, economists, tech wizards, coffee roasters, cooks, ecologists, think tanks, representatives from maritime charities and more.

See: https://classic-sailing.com/article/cargo-by-sail-ideology-and-practicality/

Check out Sail Cargo Voyages:
https://classic-sailing.com/voyage-search/?v=&d=&t=&date=2022-10-22&dur=&b=&a=435&sk=&submit=Search

 

 

21. Where would you rather be? Perhaps the Antarctic?

Lucky MMHN Board member Ross Brewer sent these images from the far south:

 

As 2022 draws to a close, best wishes from the MMHN Board.

Kind regards
Jackie
Dr Jackie Watts OAM
Chair,
Melbourne Maritime Heritage Network
0400 305 323 or email info@mmhn.org.au