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Jean Hudson reports on her big day out on an Freo Ports harbour tour and says ‘Don’t miss it. Reserve your seats today’

Everyone loves a harbour cruise. On Sunday just gone, Fremantle Ports invited me on a 50-minute Freo harbour boat tour. I joined Rachel Micallef-Jones, Strategic Communications Lead at Fremantle Ports, for the 1pm tour. Tours had been running on the hour since 10am that morning and all were fully booked.

We boarded a chartered vessel at East Jetty, on the east side of the new Walyalup Bridge and were soon entertained by a pod of four dolphins hunting in the river close to our boat. Then we were off. Travelling beneath Wally, or if one must, Walyalup Bridge, by boat was a highlight, and then under the railway bridge. Pics 1-4 sign, boat, volunteers and bridge.

There was only one container ship in the inner harbour when we entered, despite this being one of the busiest times of the year. The harbour is approximately 14.7m deep, though along Victoria Quay it’s around 10-11m deep. Cranes loomed overhead, and working cranes unloaded containers from the Olympic Bay container ship on North Quay.

The inner harbour as we know it today opened in 1897, when the ‘Sultan’ became the first ocean-going steamer to dock at Victoria Quay, roughly where B Shed is today. Here’s a pic from the 1897 opening!

Ships carry very interesting cargo into Fremantle. On Sunday, a brand-new helicopter, wrapped in green wrap, sat on the wharf, a reminder of how varied the freight through Freo can be.

Cranes and stacked containers rose high above us. Seeing a working port from water level shows how large the equipment is and gives you an idea of just how much freight moves through the port. Berths 11 and 12 on the north side, known as common-user berths, handle RO-ROs – roll-on-roll-off ships carrying cars, steel, heavy machinery and other large items. Big RO-ROs – like these – visiting Fremantle can hold between 6,000-8,000 vehicles. Last year 126,662 new vehicles were recorded landing through the port.

We travelled to the mouth of the harbour towards the two lighthouses – the green one (starboard as you enter the Port from the Ocean) on South Mole and the red (port) one on the North Mole. They date from 1903 and 1906.

We returned along the southern side, past the old luffing crane, the Ovens Submarine, the contemporary WA Maritime Museum, and the remnants of the limestone bar of the spit that once ran across the river and was blasted out in the building of the inner harbour, despite its significance to Noongar People.

Then past the heritage waterfront with its old transit A, B and C Sheds from the early 20^th century, the post-war modernistic Port Authority Building from the 1960s and the tall ship STS Leeuwin II.

Further along we passed the Passenger Terminal, the only cruise terminal in Australia that can handle two ships at once, then past tugboats and pilot boats, before returning to East Jetty beneath the rail bridge and Walyalup Bridge.

This is a fabulous opportunity to get up close to container ships and cranes that are ordinarily out of reach to the publicand to see other boats in the harbour. On Sundays you’ll usually see lots of recreational boats whizzing by. Fremantle Sea Resue vessel passed us in a hurry – off to rescue or to assist another boat.

Throughout the cruise, two Friends of Fremantle Port Volunteer Guides, John and Max gave a running commentary along with historical information and interesting facts and figures about how the port adds value to Western Australia: 6,000 direct and indirect jobs, $50.1billion of trade last year, 105,000 trucks off roads through rail and $5.2m of trade handled every hour 24/7!

Container trade increased by 3.7% last financial year with a record throughput of 920,521 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU). A container can weight up to 30 tonnes. The cranes can life them up and out of the ship’s hold in less than a minute. The largest ships visiting Fremantle are over 300m long and can hold 8000 to 9000 containers.

For six years, Fremantle Ports has offered free tours of the inner harbour to the community. This rare, on-the-water experience is usually available in March and April only, but due to ongoing public demand, the event has been expanded to include three additional dates in November.

It’s free and suits families, ship enthusiasts and anyone curious about the port. Don’t miss out, there is still some availability on the following tours.

Details

Sunday 15 November, 10am, 11am, 12pm, 1pm, 2pm and 3pm.

Sunday 22 November, 10am, 11am, 12pm, 1pm, 2pm and 3pm.

Tickets are free but BOOKINGS are essential.

Passengers must be aged 5 or over. A maximum of 4 tickets can be booked per person. Enclosed footwear is required and wind/rain gear recommended.

Not a fan of the swell? If you don’t have good sea legs, the free harbour walking tour is a good alternative!

*Story and pics (except of the Sultan) by Jean Hudson. Jean is our Shipping and Sailing Correspondent and a regular at Port and Leighton Beaches. She also a regular feature writer, reviewer and photographer here on the Shipping News. You may also like to follow up her informative Places I Love stories, as well as other feature stories and Freo Today photographs, right here.

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