The State Shipping Service of Western Australia was a state government transport entity formed in 1912, [1] in Western Australia, primarily to service the ports of North West Australia. [2] [3] [4] [5]
Originally named the State Steamship Service, [6] it was renamed as the State Shipping Service in 1919, [7] and again in 1979 as Stateships. [8]
On 4 May 1912, the State Steamships Service was formed by the Scaddan government in response to requests for improved services along the North West Australian coast after the Adelaide Steamship Company withdrew its services. [1] [3] [4] [6] [5] It was controlled by the Fremantle Harbour Trust between 1913 and 1918. [9] In January 1919 it was renamed the State Shipping Service (SSS). [10]
In November 1965, the SSS came under the responsibility of the newly formed Western Australian Coastal Shipping Commission. [11] In January 1979 the service was rebranded Stateships. [12]
In June 1995 the government announced that Stateships would cease operations, with the remaining three vessels sold. [13] [14] [15] The government provided a subsidy to a privately operated service from Fremantle to Port Hedland, Broome and Wyndham until it ceased in 2013. [16] [17]
The Western Australian Coastal Shipping Commission, administered by the Department of Transport, continues to deal with ongoing former employee compensation claims. [18]
The service originally provided transport for passengers, goods and stock, with passenger services ceasing in 1973. [16]
Having previously operated exclusively between Western Australian and Northern Territory ports, in 1964 the SSS began operating an irregular service that circumnavigated Australia in a clockwise direction in six weeks. The first voyage left Fremantle on 11 March 1964, calling at Darwin, Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. This service ceased in July 1969 with Kangaroo, Koojara and Koolama II having collectively operated 18 voyages. [19]
A collection in the Battye Library has a set of photographs of the ships that were used by the service. [20]
The ships used by the service included:
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - noting the library catalogue notes: "Western Australia was the third vessel in the Stateships fleet. Originally built for the Tsar of Russia, [as Mongolia] she was a hospital vessel in the Russo-Japanese War. After serving on the W.A. coast between 1912 and 1916 she was used by the British Admiralty as a hospital ship. She was sold to shipbreakers in 1935. Information from The Stateships story: 1912-1977 by Alan M. Stephens." [3] 
Mandurah is a coastal city in the Australian state of Western Australia, situated approximately 72 kilometres (45 mi) south of the state capital, Perth. It is the state's second most populous city, with a population of 90,306.
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SS Koombana was a passenger steamship that was built in Scotland in 1908 for the Adelaide Steamship Company, for coastal liner services between Fremantle and the northwest coast of Western Australia. She sank in a tropical cyclone somewhere off Port Hedland in 1912, with the loss of all 150 people aboard. Her loss was one of Australia's worst weather-related maritime disasters in the twentieth century.
MV Koolama was an Australian merchant vessel that sank as a result of several attacks by Japanese aircraft in February–March 1942. It was also the centre of the Koolama Incident, an alleged mutiny resulting from these attacks.
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Fremantle Harbour is Western Australia's largest and busiest general cargo port and an important historical site. The inner harbour handles a large volume of sea containers, vehicle imports and livestock exports, cruise shipping and naval visits, and operates 24 hours a day. It is located adjacent to the city of Fremantle, in the Perth metropolitan region.
The Adelaide Steamship Company was an Australian shipping company, later a diversified industrial and logistics conglomerate. It was formed by a group of South Australian businessmen in 1875. Their aim was to control the transport of goods between Adelaide and Melbourne and profit from the need for an efficient and comfortable passenger service. For its first 100 years, the company's main activities were conventional shipping operations on the Australian coast, primary products, consumer cargoes and extensive passenger services.
MVKooringa was the world's first fully cellular purpose-built container ship and was built by Australian company, Associated Steamships in partnership with McIlwraith, McEacharn & Co and commissioned in May 1964. It was built at the New South Wales State Dockyard in Newcastle as a "custom-designed cellular container ship to handle 20-ton containers".
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The Adelaide Steamship House is located at 10-12 Mouat Street, Fremantle. Built in 1900, the building was designed by Fremantle-based architectural firm Charles Oldham and Herbert Eales and was constructed by C. Coghill. The building takes its name from the original owners of the building, the Adelaide Steamship Company, who provided sea passenger and freight services around Australia.
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SS Wyola was a 306 GRT steam tug built in 1912 by JT Eltringham & Co of South Shields, England for the Swan River Shipping Company of Western Australia. Wyola was 125 ft (38 m) long between perpendiculars, had a beam of 24.7 ft (7.5 m), a depth of 13.1 ft (4.0 m) and a draught of 14 ft 0 in (4.3 m). Her 179 NHP triple-expansion engine gave Wyola a speed of 11.5 kn (21.3 km/h). She was also fitted with a powerful salvage pump, making her one of the most powerful tugs in Australia at that time.
SS Kwinana was an Australian ocean-going cargo and passenger steamship. She was built in England in 1892 as the cargo ship SS Darius. In 1912 she changed owners, was refitted as a cargo and passenger ship and renamed Kwinana.
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The Kwinana Grain Terminal is a grain terminal in East Rockingham, Western Australia. Built from 1969 onwards and operated by the CBH Group, the facility consists of a jetty, two horizontal storages, three silos and four open bulk heads. Grain is transported to the site by rail, stored and eventually loaded onto ships for export.
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