To ensure the safe movement of vessels in and around port areas, dredging activities are undertaken at ports around the world.
Tasmania's multi-port system is no exception and TasPorts regularly undertakes dredging activities, in line with its Long-Term Dredge Management Strategy.
Through this strategy, TasPorts is committed to enabling our customers and industry partners, whilst upholding maritime and environmental standards.
By ensuring the water is deep enough for ships to prevent grounding on the seafloor.
A well dredged port enables smoother and faster loading and unloading of cargo from ships.
Efficient and safe port operations support business and industries using the port. If not completed, operations can be restricted, negatively impacting our customers and local economies.
Maintenance dredging enables our ports to adapt to sediment changes and build up that naturally occur over time from flooding, storms, ocean swell and tidal movements.
TasPorts' dredging program currently includes planned maintenance dredging, as well as supporting seabed levelling activities. In addition to this, TasPorts is also exploring capital dredging opportunities.
Seabed levelling is the act of sweeping material on the seabed from a high point to a low point.
Maintenance dredging is the process of removing material from the port waters to original design depths and transporting it to another location. It can be collected and dumped at sea, re-used, recycled or disposed of on land.
Capital dredging involves the removal of material to create new channels, expand existing ones, or deepen existing facilities to allow larger ships to access them.
The Port of Devonport is fed by the Mersey catchment system, which annually accumulates approximately 40,000m3 of sediment, therefore requires regular maintenance dredging.
The last major maintenance dredging campaign was completed in 2015 and although TasPorts has completed a number of seabed levelling projects, dredging is now required to ensure safe and efficient port navigation.
Scheduled to commence in March 2026, TasPorts will commence a 14-week dredging campaign, which will see the removal and relocation of up to 470,000 cubic metres of accumulated silt, sand and cobbles to a designated offshore disposal ground. Dutch Dredging Pty Ltd has been appointed to complete the dredging campaign using trailing suction hopper dredger - Albatros.
This dredging campaign will be the first completed under TasPorts' 10-year Sea Dumping Permit, issued by the Australian Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW). The approval of TasPorts' dredging permit was underpinned by extensive environmental assessments, detailed planning and meaningful engagement with stakeholders, including its independent Technical Advisory Consultative Committee (TACC).
This permit allows for the safe relocation of dredged material to a new offshore disposal site, located approximately 15 kilometres offshore.
TasPorts' approved 10-year Sea Dumping Permit is available for download below, as well as TasPorts' Long-term Monitoring and Management Plan for the upcoming planned dredging campaign.
Image credit: Wes Palmer / Skyepics.com.au
As part of its robust environmental management, TasPorts has deployed six water quality monitoring buoys in and surrounding the port area at Devonport.
These buoys will provide 24/7 real-time water quality data across six locations near the Mersey River and further offshore, to support the upcoming planned maintenance dredging campaign in early 2026.
The early deployment of the water monitoring buoys will support baseline monitoring, enabling TasPorts to effectively monitor and respond to any changes in water quality during the dredge campaign.
As part of its commitment to being open and transparent with our dredging progress, a rolling average of live water quality monitoring data will soon be available here.