TasPorts own the ship loader and some conveyors at Berth 6 in Bell Bay, taking feeds from conveyors serving both Artec Australia Pty Ltd and Reliance Forest Fibre Pty Ltd. A third, newer customer, Midway Limited (Midway) have added additional volumes utilising their recently constructed conveyor system located at Area 7 adjacent to No. 7 Berth.

The ship loader was brought into service in 1992 by a local woodchip operator and subsequently purchased by the then Port of Launceston. The ship loader is a mobile unit that operates from a fixed position laterally along the berth and is designed to reach the centreline of smaller beam vessels that were common at the time of design but are smaller than is now standard for TasPorts' customers in todays market.

TasPorts Objective

The business and project objective is to replace the current ship loader with a modern ship loader with improved capabilities.

This project scope at a high level includes the:

- Replacement of the current ship loader and required changes to adjacent infrastructure (e.g. conveyors).

- Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system across TasPorts owned conveyors and new ship loader.

- Installation of an automatic chip sampler.

- Installation of a continuous fumigation system.

- Construction of a replacement access bridge to allow for direct access to Berth 6 for the replacement ship loader.