{"id":557855,"date":"2026-03-22T22:40:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-22T22:40:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/557855\/"},"modified":"2026-03-22T22:40:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T22:40:14","slug":"shipping-boss-pushes-for-new-bridport-channel-entrance-to-stop-his-ship-running-aground","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/557855\/","title":{"rendered":"Shipping boss pushes for new Bridport channel entrance to stop his ship running aground"},"content":{"rendered":"

David Harris is used to his 35-metre cargo ship running aground.<\/p>\n

On a mild summer’s afternoon, he stands on its upper deck, pointing out problem spots in the channel linking Bass Strait to the northern Tasmanian town of Bridport.<\/p>\n

“We’ve had it stuck here,” he says, arm extended towards the water.<\/p>\n

“We’ve had it stuck between the boat ramp and this corner here.”<\/p>\n

But last November, he said his other 43-metre ship hit the bottom with 400 head of cattle on board, forcing them to wait 12 hours for the next high tide.<\/p>\n

“It’s the first time we’ve got the boat stuck with cattle on it in many, many years,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"Cattle<\/p>\n

The Bridport Channel is so shallow that there is a short tidal window for large vessels to cross. (ABC News)<\/p>\n

Mr Harris, who owns shipping company Bass Strait Freight, has renewed calls to the government to sign off on a long-awaited plan to cut through nearby sand dunes to create a shorter, deeper route to port.<\/p>\n

“We want to change the channel, which would take three quarters or two thirds of the channel away and put the entrance into deep water.”<\/p>\n

Initial funding to progress the idea was set aside three years ago, though it remains unspent.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The Bridport Channel, in Tasmania’s north-east. (Google Earth)<\/p>\n

Concern channel getting shallower<\/p>\n

The Bridport Channel is so shallow that most large boats have only a half-hour window either side of high tide to cross it.<\/p>\n

Given many have just spent hours muscling through Bass Strait \u2014 one of Australia’s most notorious bodies of water \u2014 nailing the timing can be difficult.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The Bridport Channel fades to a trickle at low tide. (ABC News: Emily Smith)<\/p>\n

If they miss it and hit sand, they must wait 12 hours to be lifted on the next high tide.<\/p>\n

Mr Harris, whose company transports cattle from Flinders Island to the mainland, said his boats were designed to sit on sand but the costly delays were becoming more frequent.<\/p>\n

“There’s a big influx of sand outside the river on the western side of the channel and that’s being sucked into the creek,” he said.<\/p>\n

“And making it quite problematic to get the boats in and out.<\/p>\n

“It’s been getting increasingly difficult.”\"He<\/p>\n

Bridport commercial fisherman Luke Brown believes the channel has been shallower in recent times.\u00a0 (ABC News: Emily Smith)<\/p>\n

Commercial gummy shark fisherman Luke Brown, who has been fishing waters off Bridport since he was a teenager, agreed the channel was getting shallower.<\/p>\n

“I got stuck once overnight last year,” he said.<\/p>\n

“That’s the first time I’ve been stuck in sort of 20 years since I’ve been here.”<\/p>\n

Mr Harris said cattle were not allowed to stay on the ship more than 24 hours, which he said they did not exceed despite the 12-hour delay in getting stuck.<\/p>\n

“But if you got stuck twice, that would be really serious,” he said.New channel proposed<\/p>\n

The idea of cutting a new, deeper Bridport Channel by slicing through dunes in front of the port has been discussed for years.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Designs from the Bridport Foreshore Master Plan 2022 show the proposed new port entrance. (Supplied: Dorset Council)<\/p>\n

Mr Harris believed it would bring huge benefits to his business and the Flinders Island community.<\/p>\n

He said about 40 per cent of the time he is unable to send ships full, because the extra weight would make traversing the channel impossible.<\/p>\n

Mr Harris said they recently put freight rates up from $135 to nearly $170 a tonne to make up the difference.<\/p>\n

But if they left full, he said they could bring prices down somewhat while using the additional funds to pay for the work.<\/p>\n

Tasmania’s Department of State Growth believes building the new channel entrance would cost about $12 million.<\/p>\n

Mr Harris disputes that, saying he believes it could be done for $3 million.<\/p>\n

\"He<\/p>\n

Dorset mayor Rhys Beattie says the council needs more information before it can take a position on the project.\u00a0 (ABC News: Emily Smith)<\/p>\n

In 2023, the state government set aside $600,000 to help “in conducting further design and construction work on the proposed new port entrance”.<\/p>\n

The money, held by Marine and Safety Tasmania (MAST), remains unspent.<\/p>\n

But Tasmania’s Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Kerry Vincent said it is continuing to assess options to improve access to Bridport, including “a potential alternative channel entrance”.<\/p>\n

Dorset Mayor Rhys Beattie said his council had not taken a position on the project at this stage, but that he looked forward to further answers.<\/p>\n

“Because I know it is a very topical topic at the moment,” he said.Fears for salt marsh<\/p>\n

Louise Brooker visits the Bridport salt marsh almost every day.<\/p>\n

\"She<\/p>\n

Louise Brooker says the salt marsh has only emerged beside the Bridport Channel in recent years.\u00a0 (ABC News: Emily Smith)<\/p>\n

“The crabs and other molluscs have been responsible for building up this salt marsh,” she explains, striding past the patchwork of green shoots in the sand.<\/p>\n

“Amazing, really.”<\/p>\n

She said the habitat \u2014 which may be protected under federal environment laws \u2014 only sprung up in the last five years on the southern edge of the Bridport Channel.<\/p>\n

The idea of a new channel entrance has her nervous.<\/p>\n

\"She<\/p>\n

Louise Brooker is passionate about protecting Bridport’s natural environment.\u00a0 (ABC News: Emily Smith)<\/p>\n

“I have a feeling … if that entrance were closed this would sort of become a shallow sort of, well a bit of a cesspool, really,” she said.<\/p>\n

“I don’t think the nutrients will be brought. The tide brings nutrients for this [salt marsh].”<\/p>\n

Other options<\/p>\n

Commercial fisherman Luke Brown supports the idea of a new port entrance but fears the project will get bogged down in the approvals processes.<\/p>\n

\"He<\/p>\n

Commercial fisherman Luke Brown believes a regular dredging program would help the existing Bridport Channel. (ABC News: Emily Smith)<\/p>\n

He believes regular dredging of the existing channel would achieve results and be far easier to implement.<\/p>\n

After Mr Harris’ cattle-laden ship got stuck at the end of last year, the state government spent $74,000 on emergency dredging, scraping out sand from the channel floor.<\/p>\n

\"He<\/p>\n

David Harris thinks money would be better spent on a new channel than a continual dredging program.\u00a0 (ABC News: Emily Smith)<\/p>\n

But Mr Harris said sand built up so quickly, it would prove expensive over the long term.<\/p>\n

He believes a new channel will provide a permanent solution.<\/p>\n

“Long term, there is no point doing the same and expecting a different result,” he said.<\/p>\n

“You’ve got to actually change something.”\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"David Harris is used to his 35-metre cargo ship running aground. On a mild summer’s afternoon, he stands…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":557856,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,30558,275326,275325,275324,44],"class_list":{"0":"post-557855","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-australia","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-bass-strait","11":"tag-bridport-channel","12":"tag-cargo-ship","13":"tag-dave-harris","14":"tag-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/557855","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=557855"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/557855\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/557856"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=557855"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=557855"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=557855"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}