TasPorts has been a proud partner of the Maritime Museum of Tasmania for many years, and we are pleased to announce a renewed partnership with the Museum for an additional three-year arrangement up to 2027.
Posted
23 April 2024
The Maritime Museum of Tasmania (MMT) is one of Australia’s longest-established community-based volunteer organisations. It promotes, cares for, and advocates for our maritime heritage and operates the largest specialist maritime history library and archive in Tasmania. This resource underpins the Museum’s long-standing reference and inquiry service, providing information on a pro-bono basis to anyone seeking information about Tasmania’s maritime heritage.
TasPorts’ renewed partnership with the MMT will continue to see TasPorts supporting, promoting, and conserving Tasmania’s maritime heritage through financial support for its quarterly magazine (The Maritime Times), providing berthing facilities for the heritage vessel, Westward, at Constitution Dock, and providing varied support to a range of activities and initiatives that align with our community focus areas. Over recent years, we have been proud to have supported the activities below and are excited to see what will come in the future!
Westward – A Brief History
Initially intended as a recreational fishing yacht, Westward was converted into a racing yacht after the initial buyer fell through, and George Gibson became its new owner.
Gibson entered Westward in the inaugural Maria Island race in 1947, then in the 1947 and 1948 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Races – and won all three.
Until 2023, Westward was the only Tasmanian-built vessel to win the Sydney to Hobart twice and the only yacht with a fishing well to win the race! In 2023, Alive became the second Tasmanian yacht to win dual Tattersalls Cups, joining Westward, which won back-to-back Sydney to Hobart races in 1947 and 1948. Alive crossed the finish line in 2023 with a time of 2 days, 2 hours, 19 minutes and 4 seconds.
Following its racing career, Westward was used as a cruising vessel in the Pacific until returning to Tasmanian waters as a donation to the Museum in 2010.
Now, Westward can be viewed in Constitution Dock, where it has been restored and maintained by Museum volunteers as a floating exhibit and a key part of Tasmania’s sailing history.
The presentation of Westward in Constitution Dock is generously supported by Nanni Diesel and TasPorts.
Information from Westward | Maritime Museum Tasmania (maritimetas.org)
Life of a Port: Rex Cox Maritime Photographer
Rex Cox has been capturing maritime life around the Port of Hobart and the River Derwent since his father handed him a camera in the 1950s.
The Maritime Museum of Tasmania’s current exhibition, Life of a Port: Rex Cox Maritime Photographer, showcases Rex’s extensive catalogue that not only records the changing nature of port traffic and activity on the wharves but features many of TasPorts’ vessels, property and port areas.
As part of this retrospective exhibition, MMT produced a short documentary on Rex, funded through the TasPorts Community Grant Program.
Atlas Donation
One of the many fascinating items within the library’s collection is Philip’s Mercantile Marine Atlas of the World, which TasPorts owned for many years. In 2023, we were proud to have the opportunity to officially donate this book to the Museum for safekeeping so it can be adequately cared for and shared with others. You can read more about this initiative here.
This is just one of several partnerships TasPorts has with organisations dedicated to preserving Tasmania’s rich maritime history. You can read more about the great work we do at TasPorts Community Engagement and Partnerships.