Tasmania's Bridport Channel: A Shallow Water Crisis

0:00Ship owners navigating Tasmania's Bridgeport channel deal with serious risks from its shallow waters. David Harris, who runs Bastray Freight, saw his 43-meter cargo vessel hit bottom last November, while carrying 400 head of. Cattle. The crew waited 12 hours for the next high tide to reflote. Large boats get just a half-hour window on either side of high tide to pass safely. After battling rough Bastray, timing these crossings proves tricky. Sand build up from nearby areas is making the channel even shallower, leading to more frequent groundings. Local voices echoed the frustration. Commercial fishermen Luke Brown, with 20 years on these waters, got stuck overnight for the first time recently. Harris knows the stress on cattle shipments, which can't exceed 24 hours at sea, and rising freight costs from 135. Dollars to nearly $170 per ton. Harris urges the Tasmanian government to approve a new deep water channel cut through sand dunes for a shorter, reliable route.

1:03Three years ago, $600,000 was set aside for design and work, but it remains unused. Officials continue evaluating options like this entrance. Dredging offers a short-term patch, as seen in a recent $74,000 emergency job, but Harris calls it wasteful long-term. Environmentalists worry a new channel could harm a young salt marsh thriving on tidal nutrients. As talks heat up, better port access hangs in the balance for the community and Flinders Island trade. From your city, powered by AI, this is Sydney News Today.