Coal

AUSTRALIA'S FIRST EXPORT

Newcastle can claim the honour of developing Australia's first export - the loading of coal for India.

This summary lists the historical events, which have led to the development of Australias largest export industry in the Port of Newcastle.

• 1788 First Fleet arrives and settlement of Australia commences.
• 1797 Lt. John Shortland  was the first European to discover the Hunter River and collect coal samples scattered on the shores.
• 1799 Newcastle coal exported to Bengal via Sydney in the vessel "The Hunter".
• 1801 The first coal mine established under the present Fort Scratchley using convict labour.
• 1801/2 First attempts made to settle the area in 1801 but discontinued in 1802. In this period the first direct shipment of coal was made to the Cape of Good Hope in the vessel "Anna Josephs".
• 1804 Newcastle re-established as a penal settlement. Coal was obtained by driving tunnels into nearby cliffs. Ships were loaded by wheelbarrow from a dump at the foot of Watt Street.
• 1829 The total amount of coal shipped since European discovery reached 50,000 tons.
• 1831 A short wharf and loading chute erected at the foot of Brown Street.
• 1850 The Australian Agricultural Company commenced construction of coal staithes (elevated stagings) near Merewether Street.
• 1860 The Newcastle Wallsend Coal Co. given permission to erect steam cranes at Kings Wharf.
• 1872 Coal exports for the year amounted to 566,000 tons.
• 1873 On 24th June there were 69 vessels in port waiting for cargo.
• 1878 First hydraulic cranes erected at Bullock Island (now Carrington).
• 1907 Coal exports to overseas and interstate ports for the year exceeded 4,500,000 tons.
• 1908 The controversial "McMyler Hoist" erected at the Dyke.
• 1913 A record 5,236,621 tons of coal shipped through the port.
• 1915 First electric cranes built at the Dyke.
• 1958 Newstan Colliery built the Dyke Loader, the first modern conveyor type loader.
• 1967 The MSB commenced operation of the Basin Coal Loader with a capacity of 7 million tons per annum (mtpa).
• 1970 Canwan Coals Ltd. completed a conveyor link with the Basin Coal Loader increasing capacity by 4 mtpa.
• 1976 Port Waratah Coal Services Pty Ltd. (PWCS) commenced operations at the 16 mtpa Steelworks Channel Loader.
• 1982 PWCS upgrade its facility at Port Waratah increasing capacity to 28 mtpa.
• 1984 Kooragang Coal Loader Ltd. (KCL) commenced operation of a new loader on Kooragang Island. Stage 1 of the facility had a capacity of 15 mtpa, bringing present port capacity to 43 million tonnes (mt).
• 1986 The "Iron Pacific" leaves port with a record lift of 182,464 tonnes of coal. Of that, 103,238 tonnes was loaded in Newcastle, the remainder in Port Kembla. Receival berth for coal from Catherine Hill Bay on the self discharge vessel "Wallarah" complete at Dyke 6.
• 1987 Monthly tonnage record of 3,326,020 loaded in June.
• 1988 The "Iron Pacific" loads a record 177,289 tonnes of coal at KCL in August.
  The Basin Coal Loader is decommissioned in December after 21 years of operation.
  In the financial year 1987/88 coal exports exceed 30 mt.
• 1989 KCL loads its 50 millionth tonne of coal onto the "Shirotae Maru" in April. The "Concorde Maru" sailed from PWCS on 2nd June with a record load for that facility of 144,936 tonnes.
• 1990 The MSB Hunter Ports Authority withdraws from coal operations in the Port on lst July, with maintenance and operations now controlled by PWCS Ltd.
  
  The port's two coal loading facilities, PWCS and KCL, merge on 4th July and as a result form the largest capacity coal