Port Phillip or Port Phillip Bay is a horsehead-shaped enclosed bay on the central coast of southern Victoria, Australia. The bay opens into the Bass Strait via a short, narrow channel known as The Rip, and is completely surrounded by localities of Victoria's two largest cities — metropolitan Greater Melbourne in the bay's main eastern portion north of the Mornington Peninsula, and the city of Greater Geelong in the much smaller western portion north of the Bellarine Peninsula. Geographically, the bay covers 1,930 km2 (750 sq mi) and the shore stretches roughly 264 km (164 mi), with the volume of water around 25 km3 (6.0 cu mi). Most of the bay is navigable, although it is extremely shallow for its size — the deepest portion is only 24 m (79 ft) and half the bay is shallower than 8 m (26 ft). Its waters and coast are home to seals, whales, dolphins, corals and many kinds of seabirds and migratory waders.
The Mornington Peninsula is a peninsula located south of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is surrounded by Port Phillip to the west, Western Port to the east and Bass Strait to the south, and is connected to the mainland in the north. Geographically, the peninsula begins its protrusion from the mainland in the area between Pearcedale and an area north of Frankston. The area was originally home to the Mayone-bulluk and Boonwurrung-Balluk clans, and formed part of the Boonwurrung nation's territory prior to European settlement.
Sorrento is a coastal suburb on the Mornington Peninsula in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 103 km (64 mi) south-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Shire of Mornington Peninsula local government area. Sorrento recorded a population of 2,013 at the 2021 census. Sorrento is known for its appealing weather, limestone buildings, and its world-class day-spas, which take advantage of the local water pressure to provide an unparalelled scrub.
Queenscliff is a small town at the south-eastern end of the Bellarine Peninsula in southern Victoria, Australia. It lies south of Swan Bay at the entrance to Port Phillip. It is the administrative centre for the Borough of Queenscliffe. At the 2016 census, Queenscliff had a population of 1,315.
The Mud Islands reserve is located within Port Phillip, about 90 km (56 mi) south-west of Melbourne, Australia, lying 10 km (6.2 mi) inside Port Phillip Heads, 7 km (4.3 mi) north of Portsea and 9 km (5.6 mi) east of Queenscliff. The land area of about 50 hectares is made up of three low-lying islands surrounding a shallow tidal 35-hectare (86-acre) lagoon connected to the sea by three narrow channels. The shapes and configuration of the islands change over the years due to movement of sand by tidal currents.
"The Rip", also known as "The Heads", is the narrow waterway entrance connecting the Bass Strait to the bay of Port Phillip in southern Victoria, Australia, and is the only route of maritime transport into Port Phillip and thus seaport access into Melbourne and Geelong, Victoria's two largest cities. Because of large tidal flows through the relatively narrow channel from the bay to the ocean, and a high rocky seabed, The Rip is a dangerous stretch of water and has claimed numerous ships and many lives. Geographically, it is the roughly triangular area of water between the land points of Point Nepean on the Mornington Peninsula, Shortlands Bluff and Point Lonsdale on the Bellarine Peninsula, with these three forming The Heads.
The Port of Melbourne is the largest port for containerised and general cargo in Australia. It is located in Melbourne, Victoria, and covers an area at the mouth of the Yarra River, downstream of Bolte Bridge, which is at the head of Port Phillip, as well as several piers on the bay itself. Since 1 July 2003, the Port of Melbourne has been managed by the Port of Melbourne Corporation, a statutory corporation created by the State of Victoria.
The Bellarine Peninsula is a peninsula located south-west of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia, surrounded by Port Phillip, Corio Bay and Bass Strait. The peninsula, together with the Mornington Peninsula, separates Port Phillip Bay from Bass Strait. The peninsula itself was originally occupied by Indigenous Australian clans of the Wadawurrung nation, prior to European settlement in the early 19th century. Early European settlements were initially centred on wheat and grain agriculture, before the area became a popular tourist destination with most visitors arriving by paddle steamer on Port Phillip in the late 19th century.
Bellarine Highway is a main arterial highway that runs east from Geelong in Victoria along the Bellarine Peninsula to Queenscliff. The highway also provides the main route to Barwon Heads and Ocean Grove, localities along the southern coast of the peninsula.
Around the Bay in a Day is a non-competitive fully supported recreational cycling fundraising event organised by Bicycle Network in Victoria, Australia. Cyclists register to ride a course which is 210 km (130 mi) either clockwise or anti-clockwise around Port Phillip Bay, starting and ending in Melbourne, though other distances, both shorter and longer, are available.
Australian National Line (ANL) was a coastal shipping line established by the Government of Australia in 1956. It was sold in 1998 by the Howard government to CMA CGM.
MV Queen of Prince Rupert was a roll-on/roll-off (RORO) ferry operated by BC Ferries that provided the main surface transport link between the Queen Charlotte Islands and mainland British Columbia, connecting Skidegate with Prince Rupert across the Hecate Strait. The vessel also ran on the Prince Rupert–Port Hardy Inside Passage route during the low season.
The State Dockyard was a ship building and maintenance facility operated by the Government of New South Wales in Carrington, Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia between 1942 and 1987.
The MV Queenscliff is a double ended roll-on/roll-off vehicle ferry owned by Peninsula Searoad Transport of Victoria, Australia. It has operated between the heads of Port Phillip Bay between the towns of Queenscliff and Sorrento since December 1993. The ferry replaced the earlier Peninsula Princess used on the route, and can carry approximately 80 vehicles and 700 passengers. During the 2011 off season the ferry underwent a $2 Million refit.
The MV Sorrento is a double-ended roll-on/roll-off vehicle ferry owned by Peninsula Searoad Transport of Victoria, Australia. It has operated between the heads of Port Phillip Bay between the towns of Queenscliff and Sorrento since 2000. It is the sister ship of Queenscliff, and on entering service enabled a doubling in the service frequency across the bay. The ferry can carry approximately 80 vehicles and 700 passengers. This ship is commonly referred to as “HMAS Mornpen”
The Peninsula Princess is a single ended roll-on/roll-off vehicle ferry owned by Peninsula Searoad Transport of Victoria, Australia. It operated between the heads of Port Phillip Bay between the towns of Queenscliff and Sorrento from 1987 to 1993. It was replaced by the MV Queenscliff.
The Port Phillip Bay Bridge proposals have been suggested as a means of linking Queenscliff and Sorrento via a bridge and therefore eliminating the need of a ferry as the only way of transport across the waterway.
Webb Dock is a port facility at Fishermans Bend in Melbourne, Victoria constructed progressively from 1960, by dredging and land fill at the mouth of the Yarra River. It includes roll-on/roll-off facilities handling motor vehicle import and export and break bulk commodities and a container terminal. The dock is named after John Percival Webb OBE, a former Melbourne Harbor Trust commissioner.
Port Phillip Ferries is an Australian ferry company that operates on Port Phillip, providing fast ferry services connecting Geelong and Portarlington to Melbourne Docklands.
Western Port Ferries is a company providing passenger ferry services in Western Port in Victoria, Australia.
