Port of Port Hedland

This article is about the port and harbour. For the locality, see Port Hedland, Western Australia. For the local authority, see Town of Port Hedland.

Port of Port Hedland
View of the harbour at Port Hedland, looking west from the public jetty towards the bulk carrier Shagang Haili berthed at Finucane Island, April 2012
Location of Port Hedland
Port of Port Hedland class=notpageimage| Location in Australia#Australia Western Australia Show map of Australia Port of Port Hedland Port of Port Hedland (Western Australia) Show map of Western Australia
Location
Country	Australia
Location	Port Hedland, Western Australia
Coordinates	20°19.0′S118°34.5′E / 20.3167°S 118.5750°E / -20.3167; 118.5750
UN/LOCODE	AUPHE [1]
Details
Opened	1896
Operated by	Pilbara Ports Authority
Type of harbour	Seaport
No. of berths	19
Draft depth	19.8 m
Statistics
Vessel arrivals	3,281 (2021/22)
Annual cargo tonnage	561 million tonnes (2021/22)
Website Pilbara Ports Authority

Port Hedland is one of the largest iron ore loading ports in the world and the largest in Australia. In 2022, it had the largest bulk cargo throughput in Australia. With the neighbouring ports of Port Walcott and Dampier, Port Hedland is one of three major iron ore exporting ports in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. ^[2]

History

Named after Captain Hedland, the master of a ship that anchored there in 1863, Port Hedland was first developed in order to service the needs of the local pastoral industry in East Pilbara. The first jetty was built in 1896, this was extended in 1908 after the discovery of gold in the Marble Bar area. ^[3]

Until the 1930s the port was predominantly used to import goods and stores for the local industries and to export pearl, shell, wool, livestock, gold, tin and copper. With the end of World War II, the port began exporting significant amounts of manganese. ^[3]

The 1960s saw the development of the port by the iron ore and salt industries. Mount Goldsworthy Mining Associates, a company later absorbed by BHP, dredged an approach channel and turning basin for 65,000 DWT ships. Meanwhile, the Leslie Salt Company, from August 2001 Dampier Salt (part of Rio Tinto), built a land backed wharf and facilities to aid salt exports and fuel imports. ^{[3] [4]}

Further dredging was performed after the Mount Newman Mining Company, a subsidiary of BHP, chose Port Hedland as its export port. The new works allowed for ships up to 120,000 DWT. ^[3]

Between the 1960s and today and extensive dredging and building has taken Port Hedland from a convenient anchorage to 15 berths capable of loading various ores and goods onto ships ranging from 25,000 DWT to 320,000 DWT. ^[3]

In 2005/06 Port Hedland became the first Australian port to export in excess of 100 million tonnes annually. In 2010/11 the port exported a record 199 million tonnes, making it the largest port by cargo tonnage in Australia. ^[3]

In 2021/22, 561 million tonnes of cargo passed through the port. ^[5] In 2023/24, over 7,000 bulk carrier vessels (about half of them iron ore) visit the ports in Pilbara. ^[6]

Port authority

Port Hedland's harbour is managed by the Pilbara Port Authority, a Government of Western Australia instrumentality. The port authority's headquarters, control tower and heliport are at Mangrove Point, just to the west of The Esplanade at the western end of Port Hedland.

The tugboat pen, customs office and public jetty are at nearby Laurentius Point. The harbour's wharves are located on both sides of the harbour – Finucane Island to the west and Port Hedland to the east.

Geography

The points are key references to the port and its composition. Mangrove and Laurentius points are already mentioned, Utah Point, and Anderson Point are located in the inner part of the harbour and exist within the complex of current berths.

Berths

Allocation of berths includes a commercial in confidence agreement between the PPA and BHP ^{[7] [8]} known as the Harriet Point agreement ^[9]

• Finucane Island berths - BHP berths FIA, FIB, FIC & FID, PPA Wharf 4
• Anderson Point berths - Fortescue Metals Group berths 1,2,3 and 4,5 (in South West Creek)
• South West Creek - Roy Hill Stanley Point SP 1 & SP 2
• Inner Harbour berths - PPA Wharves 1,2 & 3 and BHP berths Nelson Point NPA, NPB, NPC, NPD ^[10]

Gallery

Access by oceangoing vessels into and out of the harbour is via a narrow curved channel. The following series of images depicts a 225 m (246.1 yd) long bulk carrier, Darya Shanthi, using the channel to enter the harbour. Visible in the foreground of each image is part of the harbour's system of mangroves.

 

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Port statistics

Port Hedland ship and cargo statistics 2007-2012 ^{[11] [12]}

	2012	2011	2010	2009	2008	2007
Total cargo (tonnes)	246,672,060	199,002,079	178,625,449	159,390,660	130,707,208	111,809,432
Imports
Sulphuric acid	10,003	6,011	–	73,577	69,649	145,336
Bitumen	–	–	–	3,185	1,284	3,825
Caustic soda	–	4,166	–	7,433	7,032	–
Ammonium nitrate	16,100	–	–	–	389	–
Cement	186,870	98,573	163,604	82,803	25,148	–
Fuel oils	1,216,044	988,990	822,794	713,226	619,957	527,256
General & containerised cargo	227,186	172,285	167,796	128,642	70,487	136,022
Total imports (tonnes)	1,656,203	1,270,025	1,154,194	1,008,866	793,946	812,439
Exports
Iron ore	238,932,735	192,548,683	173,957,507	153,895,882	125,267,292	106,616,567
Hot briquetted iron	–	–	–	–	–	–
Hot briquetted iron fines	–	–	44,576	324,389	321,702	–
Manganese	1,958,419	1,881,708	1,645,950	920,216	1,217,026	1,184,927
Chromite	411,647	173,236	143,421	180,128	209,792	219,337
Copper	433,904	461,383	479,545	423,050	417,075	249,824
Feldspar	–	–	–	–	–	–
Salt	3,197,203	2,623,412	1,165,401	2,609,954	2,409,527	2,669,441
Scrap	70,245	39,002	25,150	20,008	39,051	–
Livestock	–	–	7,817	5,825	7,951	6,335
General & containerised cargo	11,703	4,630	1,888	2,342	23,846	50,562
Total exports (tonnes)	245,015,856	197,732,054	177,471,255	158,381,794	129,913,262	110,996,993
Shipping
Gross registered tonnage	145,056,987	112,081,735	100,040,087	74,012,123	63,614,547	62,370,169
Deadweight tonnage	277,313,992	216,454,152	193,442,785	142,870,875	122,810,231	120,119,965
No. of vessels	1,843	1,474	1,303	1,027	888	925

References

1. "UNLOCODE (AU) - AUSTRALIA". www.unece.org. United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). Retrieved 8 October 2020.
2. Annual Report 2022 Pilbara Port Authority
3. "Port Profile and Handbook". PHPA website]. Port Hedland Port Authority. 12 December 2013. Archived from the original on 10 April 2013. Retrieved 28 February 2013.
4. "History". Rio Tinto Dampier Salt. Rio Tinto. Archived from the original on 19 February 2015. Retrieved 19 February 2015.
5. Port of Port Hedland at a Glance Pilbara Port Authority
6. "WA splurges on electric transport, batteries and transmission to unlock wind, usher out coal". RenewEconomy. 20 June 2025.
7. Michael Hobbs. "BHP struck secret deal over Port Hedland capacity" . Australian Financial Review . Retrieved 25 December 2017.
8. Michael Hobbs (13 November 2013). "BHP struck secret deal over Port Hedland capacity". Farm Weekly . Archived from the original on 7 August 2016. Retrieved 25 December 2017.
9. Evans, Nick (2014) Secret deal risks port sale, West Business, p.125, The Weekend West, 20–21 September 2014
10. Wilson, Jimmy. "Macquarie Western Australia Forum" (PDF). BHP . Retrieved 30 December 2015.
11. "Cargo Statistics & Port Information" (PDF). PHPA website. Port Hedland Port Authority. November 2011. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
12. "Cargo Statistics & Port Information". PHPA website. Port Hedland Port Authority. 2011. Retrieved 28 February 2013.

Further reading

• Mills, Charlie; McLean, Charlie (9 November 2024). "Small crew of marine pilots keeps iron ore flowing through Port Hedland". ABC News . Retrieved 10 November 2024.
• Shaw, Murray (2006). Moving Mountains: The Evolution of Port Hedland Harbour. Carlisle, Western Australia: Hesperian Press. ISBN   085905389X.

External links

Media related to Port Hedland Harbour at Wikimedia Commons