Port Waratah is investing $270 million into the future of the Kooragang Terminal to ensure the terminal facilities are positioned to meet customer expectations and Hunter Valley coal chain demand beyond 2030.
The investment program is headlined by the procurement of a new shiploader, to be installed at Kooragang’s K4 berth as a replacement for Port Waratah’s original Shiploader 7.08 which commenced operations in 1984. It is expected that the new one will enter operations in 2028.
The upgrade works will also include major refurbishment and life extension works on the other two Kooragang shiploaders, both commissioned in the 1990’s. The first of these projects commences in July 2025 with a four-month outage of Shiploader 7.09. Similar outages will follow over the next four years and include life extension works on Shiploader 7.10.
“This significant investment in our assets ensures Port Waratah is positioned to meet the demands of the Hunter Valley coal industry reliably, flexibly and cost-effectively into the future,” said CEO, Hennie du Plooy.
“The Kooragang Terminal shiploaders are all reaching key milestones within their lifecycles. One of our iconic yellow shiploaders has delivered 40 years of service, with the other two installed in the 1990s. An asset assessment and continued use study completed in 2023 recommended a strategic program of work on all three shiploaders.
“As we have demonstrated at our Carrington Terminal which has been operating since 1976, strategic investment in maintenance, upgrades and replacement ensures that infrastructure such as this can perform reliably over long periods.
“Our aim is to find the optimum balance between investment in and the capability of our shiploading fleet over time to ensure that we can meet not only customer demand but also changing stakeholder expectations for safety and environmental performance.”
Port Waratah has entered into contracts for the design, construction and delivery of the new shiploader, as well as the life-extension works on 7.09 shiploader for execution in 2025, with Civmec Construction and Engineering.
“We are looking forward to working with the Civmec team to deliver the first refurbishment and getting started on the design for the replacement shiploader,” said Hennie.
“The refurbishment works on Shiploader 7.09 will commence in July with an outage of four months to complete structural and strengthening works, replacement of mechanical components, and surface protection. We are confident that Port Waratah will continue to meet customer demand despite this disruption through leveraging the redundancy available in the remainder of Kooragang Terminal and the capacity of the Carrington Terminal.”
Image caption: Port Waratah CEO Hennie du Plooy and Civmec CEO Pat Tallon.
