Operators sought for new Brisbane container berths
27 July 2006
The Port of Brisbane Corporation is seeking Request for Proposals (RFP) from suitably qualified proponents to operate and manage two new container berths at the Port of Brisbane, the Corporation’s Chief Executive Officer, Jeff Coleman, announced today.
The RFP process will seek proposals for the licensing of either or both of:
- Berth 11 (and the leasing of approximately 14 hectares of adjacent terminal land); or
- Berth 11 (and the leasing of approximately 14 hectares of adjacent terminal land) with put and call options for the licensing of Berth 12 (and the leasing of approximately 12.4 hectares of adjacent terminal land).
“Based on current container trade growth, capacity forecasts and operational performance benchmarks, we have identified the need for the new berths and their associated terminals to be operational by 2011 and 2013 respectively,” Mr Coleman said.
“Construction of Berth 11 is planned to begin in November 2008, with construction of Berth 12 to begin soon after.”
The new container berths will increase Brisbane’s container handling capacity by 25% and take the number of dedicated container wharves at the port to nine.
The Port of Brisbane has become Australia’s fastest-growing container port (in percentage terms), with compounding container trade growth in excess of 11% per annum over the past five years (2001/02–2005/06). This trend is expected to continue as the population of South East Queensland – the port’s primary catchment - continues to grow.
South East Queensland is experiencing the fastest growth rate of any urban region in Australia. By 2026 the population is expected to reach around 3.7 million – an increase of more than one million people over two decades.
Mr Coleman said that the Corporation was fortunate in being able to provide operators with room to grow to keep pace with the needs of this expanding population.
“We are now offering a valuable opportunity in the Australian market, not only for stevedoring operations, but also potentially for integrated logistics activities, such as container parks and warehousing, on close-to-terminal sites,” he said.
In August 2005 the Corporation completed a 4.6-kilometre seawall to enable the reclamation of additional land for port-related purposes at Fisherman Islands. This 230-hectare area will be progressively reclaimed, as demand dictates, to ensure that wharves and supporting infrastructure can be developed to meet future growth.
The port expansion area will also ensure that dredged-material handling requirements are provided for to enable channel depths to be maintained - or increased - to handle the deeper-draft vessels entering world trades. (Channels and berths are already at least 14 metres deep.)
Mr Coleman said that the $202.5 million expansion project was the latest in a series of major infrastructure improvement projects at the port.
“Construction of an additional dedicated container wharf (Wharf 10) has commenced and is scheduled for completion early in 2008. And in May this year, we announced that we would be building a new 210m general-purpose wharf to handle bulk and break-bulk cargoes,” he said.
“We have also just completed a new 28-hectare motor vehicle precinct at Fisherman Islands to handle all vehicle trade into Brisbane.”
Registrations to purchase RFP documentation will open on 1 August via www.portbris.com.au/rfp.
