The RSV Nuyina will now be based at Hobart for 30 years, which will including refuelling. Picture: Australian Antarctic Division
A new $188m wharf will be built in Hobart to cater for Australia’s icebreaker in a big boost for the Australian Antarctic Program.
The Federal Government has pledged $188 million over four years to build a new Macquarie Wharf 6 in the Tasmanian capital.
The news was announced by PM Anthony Albanese during a visit to Hobart yesterday (October 16).
The wharf will be used by the RSV Nuyina as its home port and secure the program’s long-term future.
The Tasmanian Government will provide priority access to Macquarie Wharf 6 for the Nuyina for 30 years with continual access to portside facilities during construction, access to shoreside power and a refuelling station.
Albanese says the deal will allow Tasmania to remain as Australia’s gateway to Antarctica “as it should be”.
“This is an investment in Hobart, an investment in Tasmania and an investment in the future of Australian science,” he says.
Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff agrees.
“As part of the agreement we will also deliver appropriate refuelling infrastructure for the Nuyina and other vessels coming into Hobart,” he says.
“Tasmania has a proud heritage of supporting Antarctic and Southern Ocean endeavours with explorers and scientists using the port of Hobart as a base for expeditions since the 19th Century,” he points out.
REFUELLLING
The Nuyina was at the heart of a row involving TasPorts last year when it was not allowed to sail under a bridge in Hobart to refuel.
The move forced the $528 million ship to travel 364 nautical miles (674 kilometres) to Burnie to refuel.
Read more about it: icebreaker ruled out from sailing under Tasman Bridge
Federal Environment and Water Minister Tanya Plibersek said the new wharf will save on operating costs for the Nuyina.
“That adds about $900,000 a year to the expense of the running the ship,” she says of its refuelling trips to Burnie.
“That’s almost $1 million a year that will go back into science because the Tasmanian Government is taking responsibility for finding a refuelling solution here in Hobart.”
She also says that the state government will cover the costs incurred by any construction or other on-the-ground delays.
Plibersek points out that the Antarctic and Southern Ocean sector employs nearly 1000 people in Tasmania and injects more than $183 million annually into the state coffers.
The RSV Nuyina is the main lifeline to Australia’s Antarctic and sub-Antarctic research stations and the central platform of Australia’s Antarctic and Southern Ocean scientific research.
Wharf construction will be managed by the state government and is due to begin next year.
