TALL SHIPS TO CRUISE SHIPS
1854-1902 - Site of a steam saw mill and joinery works owned by John Booth.
John Booth was the Mayor of Balmain and Booth’s mills were among the largest
th
industrial enterprises in Balmain in the latter half of the 19 century.
1875 - The Australian Gas Light Company built its works on the White Bay
waterfront to reticulate gas for street lighting.
1895 - After reclaiming some of the White Bay shoreline, the British soap
manufacturer, William Lever established a subsidiary of Lever Brothers. In 1900
these large works produced the first cake of Sunlight soap in Australia. After
various changes of name, the company became the Unilever conglomerate. By
the time the complex began to relocate to outer areas in 1988, it had stretched
along the waterfront from Booth Street to Reynolds Street.
Early 1900s - shipbuilders, Poole and Steel, were located at the waterfront near
Stephen Street, while Howard Smith Ltd, a leading Australian shipping, coal and
engineering company, operated from the waterfront at Adolphus Street.
1901 - Construction of the Glebe Island Bridge and the extension of rail tracks
through Rozelle
1912 - Construction of the White Bay Power Station commences.
1919 – Tall ships like the James Craig (Pictured) regularly berthed at White Bay
handling cargoes of grain, timber and soap products.
1930s through 1950s - The western part of the site was adapted for use as
specialist bulk chemical wharves.
1939 – (Balmain) Coal loader established at the head of White Bay
1965 - the land adjacent to Wharf 3 was established as a chemical tank farm.
1967-69 - Construction of the White Bay Container Terminal by the Maritime
Services Board of NSW (MSB), known first as the Balmain Container Terminals,
began in February 1967, in response to the urgent need to meet the modern
concept of handling cargo in containers. It required the construction of new
wharves, terminals and cargo-handling cranes. The containerisation facilities
established at White Bay were the first in New South Wales and among the first
in Australia, and allowed movement of ships and their cargoes between Sydney,
Melbourne and Fremantle in Western Australia.
The eastern part of the terminal (Berths 4, 5 and 6) was built first, and involved
excavation of the high land of the White Bay foreshores and further land
reclamation.
1969 - The terminal was officially opened by the NSW Minister for Public Works,
Davis Hughes. Construction of Wharf 4 was completed late in 1969. The Wharf 5
shed, the steel structure which has been retained within the new passenger
terminal structure, was constructed soon after.
At the end of the first stage of construction, the container terminal comprised
two 9-acre wharves for overseas vessels and one 4-acre wharf for the use of
interstate container ships providing feeder services, as well as a large cargo
storage shed. Two of the wharves were leased, while the third was a common
user container berth.
Work continued on Wharf 3 until the late 1970s, with the laying of additional
crane and rail tracks and the preparation of the wharf for temporary handling of
bulk chemicals held at the adjacent chemical tank farm in 1977 and 1978. At its
completion, the White Bay container terminal comprised 27 acres of land.
The first container ship to arrive in Australia, the UK-based Overseas Container
Line (OCL) company’s Encounter Bay, arrived at the eastern terminal in 1969,
marking the beginning of a regular containerised shipping service between
Europe and Australia and the first regular international containerised shipping
service in the world.
1970’s – Seatainer Terminals Limited and Australia National Line each ran a
container terminal at White Bay (Berths 4,5 and 6) and Mort Bay respectively.
STL’s site at White Bay was inadequate, with containers being stacked 6 or 7
high in a huge building. STL was forced to rely on a shuttle train operating
between White Bay and the distant suburb of Chullora where it ran a satellite
operation; when a ship was ready to load, containers were brought back from
Chullora by train.
1982 - With the transfer of Seatainer’s operations to the newly developed
dedicated container port at Port Botany, Union Steamship Co of Australia
converted berths 5 & 6 to “roll on roll off” (RORO). The method of handling
containers by overhead cranes was replaced by use of fork lift trucks for shore to
ship and on shore operations. A stern ramp for access to vessels was
constructed. Handling of standardised containers was replaced with mixed cargo
operation including timber, paper pulp and newsprint. Refridgerated cargo was
also introduced. Non-standard sized containers, palletised cargo and unpacked
cargo was handled.
June 1987 - Conaust Limited, P&O Australia’s terminal operating subsidiary,
held a preferential berthing agreement for Wharves 3 and 4 and from 1993 held
a lease for Wharves 5 and 6 until the closure of the terminal.
July 1 - 1995 - Ownership of White Bay was transferred to the Sydney Ports
Corporation upon the dissolution of the MSB.
October 2003 - Conaust announced it would relocate its operations to Darling
Harbour, to share facilities with Patrick Stevedores. The announcement coincided
with the unveiling of the State Government’s “Ports Growth Plan” to transfer
container handling, car imports and other bulk cargo out of Sydney Harbour to
Port Kembla and to identify the port of Newcastle as the site for future container
growth in the longer term.
Late 2004 – Conaust vacated and White Bay ceased operating as a container
terminal.
2005 – Sydney Ports renews an environmental Protection License from the
Department of Environment and Conservation to continue to load and unload
vegetable oils and tallow through White Bay. Engine lubricant is barged from
White Bay up the Parramatta River where it is used in manufacturing.
2006 – Sydney Ports established the Glebe Island/White Bay Community Liaison
Group to communicate with locals about the area’s development.
2006 – Baileys Marine Fuels announced as the successful tenderer for use of No
6 White Bay for marine refuelling.
2004-2009 Miscellaneous port related uses such as provisioning fireworks
barges for New Year’s Eve, disposal of spoil from construction of the North Side
Storage Tunnel, layup vessels impounded or needing mechanical repairs,
servicing harbour islands and use by maritime constructions.
2009 – NSW Government announces White Bay as the location for the
replacement Passenger terminal east of the Harbour Bridge.
November 16- 2011 – Demolition works commenced for the start of the
construction of White Bay Passenger Terminal
April 19 - 2013 – White Bay Passenger Terminal is officially opened.