Responding to the Queensland flood crisis

In January 2011, Queensland endured its worst flood crisis since the notorious events of 1974. As the waters made their way down the Brisbane River, so too did the debris, and on Tuesday 11 January the Harbour Master closed the port to all commercial shipping.

Faced with worsening conditions, strong currents and an unclear picture of the situation in the channel, the Port of Brisbane had a difficult task ahead.

Assessing the damage

As soon as conditions on the water were safe enough, the port’s hydrographic surveying team began the treacherous task of assessing the state of the channel and shipping berths. Our marine crews began removing debris, working in conjunction with Maritime Safety Queensland and dozens of other crews along the Brisbane River. 

Since the flood crisis, our surveying crews have completed eight full rounds of port surveys, and covered a whopping 10km².

Proving our resilience – reopening the port

Resourcing was a challenge as, like thousands of other businesses, many of the port’s employees were unable to come to work or were involved with helping friends and relatives. Despite this, a small contingent of employees worked tirelessly and, remarkably, were able to restore the port to safe operational conditions. Just five days after the port was closed, the Harbour Master was able to reopen it for commercial shipping. Within a week, the port was fully reopened.

PBPL maintained constant contact with customers throughout the crisis, with twice daily updates emailed and posted online. We were also in constant communication with key agencies like Maritime Safety Queensland, to ensure the most effective and efficient response.

Restoring the supply chain

While Fisherman Islands withstood the flood without damage, this wasn’t the case for the rest of the supply chain. Hundreds of roads and rail lines were damaged and isolated, meaning some commodities like coal were facing weeks, possibly months, of delays. The shipping and stevedoring industries also had a difficult task ahead, with a backlog of ships to cause ongoing scheduling disruptions.

In April, rail lines were restored and coal mines resumed sending exports to the Port of Brisbane. The next few months were busy times, with exports hitting their highest ever level in June 2011. 

Mammoth dredging campaign completed

The flood waters deposited huge amounts of sediment into the port’s channel and shipping berths, with official depths reduced by almost a metre in some areas. In March, the port’s main dredger, the Brisbane began its annual maintenance campaign. Normally, annual maintenance requires the removal of between 100,000 and 300,000m³, but this year the floods had deposited an extra 1 million m³ of material. By June the task was complete, and almost 1.2 million m³ of material had been dredged.

With such a large increase in dredged material, our Environment and Reclamation teams had to work quickly to ensure the correct approvals and controls were in place. Constant monitoring ensured the dredging and placement of material was carried out with little impact on the surrounding environment.

The far reaching effects of the flood crisis, and Cyclone Yasi in North Queensland, meant demand for maintenance dredging in other Queensland ports was also high. Consequently, the Brisbane travelled north after completing its work here in June, and will remain in northern ports until early 2012.

Supporting a community in need

Like thousands of other Queenslanders, our own employees were motivated to help in the flood recovery. Many volunteered with the cleanup in the weeks following the crisis, and a series of fundraising events were also held. Staff contributed $9,000 to the fund, and the company matched each dollar with another two. These efforts, combined with PBPL’s $100,000 donation, meant we gave a total of $127,000 to the Premier’s Relief Fund.