Melbourne, Australia

In southern Australia is the world’s most livable city – a city known for its strong economy, outdoor living, education and entertainment, it is also home to the busiest port in Australia. The world’s most livable city is Melbourne and it not only a great place to live but is also the leading financial hub for the Asia-Pacific region. The city is the second largest city in Australia and at one point served as the country’s seat of government. Each year the port handles over 2 million containers which accounts for over one-third international shipping services into Australia. The port was turned into a major trading hub in the late 19th century. Today the port is so busy it has reached its full capacity with expansions of the port scheduled to begin in order to accommodate the heavy influx of containers and other cargo into Australia.

In the late 1800’s the port of Melbourne was created after a canal was widened to accommodate the large ships coming into the harbor. Further development of the port was completed in 2009 when the shipping channel was made deeper in order to accommodate larger ships. In 2013 under pressure that the port would no longer be able to handle the large amount of incoming international shipping services and cargo into Melbourne, extensive plans were put into place to enlarge the port. The port provides access to all parts of Australia through major railway and road connections and the expansion of the port will now allow direct access from the port to these major modes of transportation. Additionally, the expansion will open up the port to more cargo and trade from nations around the world. The USA alone saw an increase of over 80% between 2004-2013 in the total number of goods exported to Australia. The main goods to Australia from the United States include heavy equipment shipping, vehicles and machinery.

Some notable features of the port of Melbourne, Australia:

  • The port of Melbourne experiences a growth rate of approximately 6% each year, at that rate the port will be at full capacity by 2015. In order to maintain the level of international shipping services to Melbourne, the port’s expansion project is crucial.
  • The upcoming expansion project will create an automotive facility to assist with incoming overseas car shipping services into Melbourne. The facility will be able to handle over 600,000 vehicles.
  • The port of Melbourne has docks that handles cargo destined to nearby Tasmania, the port serves as the main transportation hub to Tasmania and nearby destinations throughout Oceania.
  • The main exports to Melbourne from the USA include machinery and automobiles. In order to accommodate international automobile shipping and heavy equipment shipping to Melbourne, the port has several docks designated for the handling of rolling cargo.

For more information about the port of Melbourne, Australia please visit: http://www.portofmelbourne.com.au/. To receive more information about our international shipping services or to receive an international shipping quote to Australia, please visit our rates request pages.