Trade, defence and tourism opportunities will no longer bypass Townsville, according to backers of the next phase of the city's long-awaited port channel upgrade.
The $232 million project to widen Townsville's shipping channel to allow vessels of up to 300 metres in length to access North Queensland has bipartisan political support.
Australia's largest backhoe dredge, the Woomera, which will soon begin work on the project was welcomed on Wednesday by traditional owners with a smoking ceremony.
The machine will dig out 30 swimming pools worth of ocean sediment from the existing shipping port to more than double its width, according to Hall Contracting, which won the tender for the project.
Bringing bigger ships
The project will be the largest in the port's 158-year history and comes as North Queensland's economy recovers from the impacts of the pandemic.
Queensland Resources Minister and Member for Townsville Scott Stewart said when finished the upgrade would attract large vessels that usually dock in Brisbane.
"They then unload their containers to be sent back up this way (to the north) and that doesn't make sense," he said.
"It allows us to then be able to load ships here from the north west minerals province to get our product offshore and into international markets … which will be part of our economic recovery post COVID-19."
The project will be funded by $105 million from the state government, $75 million from the Commonwealth and $52 million from the Port of Townsville.
Federal Member for Herbert Phillip Thompson said the port had created 1,400 jobs for North Queensland.
"This will create an extra 70 full-time positions, and 90 per cent will be local … 93 per cent will be from Queensland," he said.
Hall Contracting will use the Woomera to widen the channel from 92 metres to 180 metres at the port end.
Dredging stunts diving visibility
Underwater tourism groups on nearby Magnetic Island are worried the dredging will cause severe visibility issues on key parts of the Great Barrier Reef.
Diving company co-owner Tom Glenning said dredging had caused significant issues in the past.
"When the dredging is going ahead, it makes visibility next to nothing underwater … and it does deter a lot of people who come up once a year and if it's while the dredging is going on they don't return," Mr Glenning said.
"They can word it however they want really but if you're picking up soft sediment from the bottom [of the ocean] there's going to be some escape, even just a small amount is going to affect the water quality.
"When customers can't go diving and don't want to go diving because there's pretty poor water quality, it's really difficult for us."
Port of Townsville chief executive Ranee Crosby said dredging spoils would be stored on land for use in a 62-hectare reclamation area, rather than being dumped at sea.
"It is best practice dredging so using a backhoe dredge instead of a cutter-suction dredge means we reduce the risk of any sediment plumes by 90 per cent compared to standard methodology," she said.
"It makes it longer but it's the best way to protect the environment.
"This project went through a seven-year rigorous environmental impact process before being signed off by the state and federal regulators in 2017 and 2018," she said.
