Volume a concern for freight service plan
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Tuesday, 28 August, 2001 - 22:00
BARGES soon could be an option for the transport of containerised freight from Bunbury to Fremantle.
The Bunbury and Fremantle port authorities and the Sea Freight Council are studying the feasibility of a shuttle service between the two ports. The study should be completed in three months.
While tug-drawn barges loom as the main option, Sea Freight Council executive director Michael O’Callaghan said using a large container ship or even a fast ship service such as a converted fast catamaran ferry also were under investigation.
Bunbury has been fighting for its own container service for several years.
About 30 per cent of Freman-tle’s container freight comes from the South West and is mostly carried there by trucks.
Transporting those containers to Fremantle can be an expensive exercise – it costs about $350 to truck a container from Bunbury.
Exporters from further south find it even more expensive to transport their containers to Fremantle. It costs $1,400 to road freight a container from Albany – more than it costs to send a container from Fremantle to Rotterdam by ship.
Bunbury Port Authority CEO Don Figliomeni said he had not given up the fight to gain a container service dedicated to Bunbury.
“We’re exploring all options. If this happens to be the best option we’ll get behind it 100 per cent,” he said.
Mr Figliomeni said the study would focus predominantly on the feasibility of shipping South West products.
“Once that gets up we’ll look at cargoes from south of the city.”
Mr Figliomeni said the Bunbury Port Authority was looking at three options to grow its business.
The first is having its own container service. The second involves the shuttle service and the third is something the BPA is keeping confidential.
It has long been argued that a container service from Bunbury would not be feasible because there is not enough return trade.
Mr Figliomeni conceded the lack of return cargo posed a major problem for Bunbury’s hopes to have a container service.
“One option is to attract northbound ships enroute from the east coast,” he said.
Fremantle Port Authority CEO Kerry Sanderson said the study was designed to provide an independent and objective assessment of both the feasibility and desirability of such a service.
“The container exports originating from the Bunbury area and its hinterland generate about 20,000 TEUs (20-tonne equivalent units) annually. However, for a container service to be economical there needs to be minimum volumes to justify the investment required,” Ms Sanderson said.
Shipping Australian Limited WA chairman Steve Neates said the shipping industry’s main concerns about a Bunbury-Fremantle shuttle service were cost based, primarily the cost of moving empty containers to Bunbury.
It costs between $200 and $300 to move an empty container from Fremantle to Bunbury.
“Our other concern involves the additional cost of the shuttle service for shipping lines,” Mr Neates said.
Returns on cargoes out of Fremantle are very low for shipping lines and the extra cost of a shuttle service could be too great.
The Bunbury and Fremantle port authorities and the Sea Freight Council are studying the feasibility of a shuttle service between the two ports. The study should be completed in three months.
While tug-drawn barges loom as the main option, Sea Freight Council executive director Michael O’Callaghan said using a large container ship or even a fast ship service such as a converted fast catamaran ferry also were under investigation.
Bunbury has been fighting for its own container service for several years.
About 30 per cent of Freman-tle’s container freight comes from the South West and is mostly carried there by trucks.
Transporting those containers to Fremantle can be an expensive exercise – it costs about $350 to truck a container from Bunbury.
Exporters from further south find it even more expensive to transport their containers to Fremantle. It costs $1,400 to road freight a container from Albany – more than it costs to send a container from Fremantle to Rotterdam by ship.
Bunbury Port Authority CEO Don Figliomeni said he had not given up the fight to gain a container service dedicated to Bunbury.
“We’re exploring all options. If this happens to be the best option we’ll get behind it 100 per cent,” he said.
Mr Figliomeni said the study would focus predominantly on the feasibility of shipping South West products.
“Once that gets up we’ll look at cargoes from south of the city.”
Mr Figliomeni said the Bunbury Port Authority was looking at three options to grow its business.
The first is having its own container service. The second involves the shuttle service and the third is something the BPA is keeping confidential.
It has long been argued that a container service from Bunbury would not be feasible because there is not enough return trade.
Mr Figliomeni conceded the lack of return cargo posed a major problem for Bunbury’s hopes to have a container service.
“One option is to attract northbound ships enroute from the east coast,” he said.
Fremantle Port Authority CEO Kerry Sanderson said the study was designed to provide an independent and objective assessment of both the feasibility and desirability of such a service.
“The container exports originating from the Bunbury area and its hinterland generate about 20,000 TEUs (20-tonne equivalent units) annually. However, for a container service to be economical there needs to be minimum volumes to justify the investment required,” Ms Sanderson said.
Shipping Australian Limited WA chairman Steve Neates said the shipping industry’s main concerns about a Bunbury-Fremantle shuttle service were cost based, primarily the cost of moving empty containers to Bunbury.
It costs between $200 and $300 to move an empty container from Fremantle to Bunbury.
“Our other concern involves the additional cost of the shuttle service for shipping lines,” Mr Neates said.
Returns on cargoes out of Fremantle are very low for shipping lines and the extra cost of a shuttle service could be too great.