In recognition of the vital role Tasmania’s lighthouses continue to play in ensuring maritime safety around Tasmania, TasPorts proudly supported the work of Tasmanian author Garry Richardson for his new book, Safe Passage: The Lighthouses of Tasmania.
Posted
16 June 2022
As an island state, Tasmanians are almost wholly reliant upon maritime trade and port operations to sustain our communities and economy. However, the waters around our island are inherently dangerous, with more than 1000 vessels noted as wrecked around Tasmania’s coastline since records began.
While technology has greatly reduced the risk of shipwrecks, Tasmania’s lighthouses are still essential navigational aids for thousands of commercial and recreational vessels visiting our shores each year.
In recognition of the vital role Tasmania's lighthouses continue to play in ensuring maritime safety around Tasmania, TasPorts proudly supported the work of Tasmanian author Garry Richardson for his new book, Safe Passage: The Lighthouses of Tasmania.
Within these pages, the author has presented a captivating history of Tasmania's 14 staffed lighthouses and the ships that supplied them. The lighthouse keepers could not have survived without the supply ships that played an equally crucial role in keeping the lights operational.
Few are aware that a key priority for TasPorts' predecessor, The Marine Board of Hobart, was the establishment and management of a network of lighthouses, pilot stations, and navigational aids around the State to help guide vessels safely to port. While the Commonwealth took control of all Australian lighthouses in 1901, it was many years more before the Hobart Marine Board ended this work.
TasPorts is committed to the preservation of Tasmania's rich maritime history for future generations and is proud to be associated with Safe Passage: The Lighthouses of Tasmania.
Safe Passage is a comprehensive book written on Tasmania's 14 staffed lighthouses and the first compiled since they were all automated.
Containing nearly 700 images and charts - many sourced from previously unpublished keepers' family collection - Safe Passage brings to life the era of staffed lighthouses in Tasmania.
Safe Passage is available to purchase from local bookstores.
Image (left): The Tasmanian Mail, 12 December 1912
