Hunter Valley Coal Chain - Port Waratah Coal Services

Port Waratah Coal Services

Port Waratah Coal Services Limited (PWCS) operates the main coal export facilities in Newcastle. The coal export facilities consist of two coal loading terminals, located on either side of the South Channel of the Hunter River. These are known as the Kooragang Coal Terminal, on Kooragang Island and the Carrington Coal Terminal in the suburb of Carrington. Each of those terminals comprises equipment for the delivery and storage of coal to the terminal and for the loading of coal onto vessels. PWCS leases the land on which the port is situated from the Government of New South Wales under an agreement which states that the port is maintained as a 'common user facility'.

The coal export facilities operated by PWCS have a total capacity of 133 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa):

• Carrington coal terminal has a shiploading capacity of 25 Mtpa. It has berth space for two vessels and shiploading facilities that operate at 2,500 tonnes per hour (tph). Carrington Coal Terminal is able to accept coal deliveries by either road or rail.
• Kooragang coal terminal has a shiploading capacity of 108 Mtpa. It has berth space for four vessels and shiploading facilities which can operate at 10,500 tph. Kooragang Coal Terminal is able to accept coal deliveries by rail only.
• Kooragang coal terminal has been undergoing expansion due demand since inception. Further expansion is currently underway to take total PWCS capacity to nominally 145 Mtpa by the end of 2012.

The distribution of loading between Carrington and Kooragang Coal terminals is dependent on a number of factors:

• 'Capesize' class vessels usually berth at Kooragang Coal Terminal due to their larger size. However, they are also able to load at the Carrington Coal Terminal. 'Handysize' class vessels are loaded at Carrington Coal Terminal also due to their size. 'Panamax' class vessels may be loaded at either Kooragang Coal Terminal or Carrington Coal Terminal.
• Coal which is to be delivered by road may only be delivered to Carrington Coal Terminal, and therefore any vessels which are to be loaded with road coal must be loaded at Carrington Coal Terminal.
• If the vessel to be loaded is 'geared', that is, it has equipment on deck, then the vessel will usually be scheduled to berth at Carrington Coal Terminal, as the shiploaders at Carrington Coal Terminal are smaller and are therefore more easily able to move in and about equipment on the deck of a vessel.
• Remaining vessels are then scheduled to ensure an even queue of vessels is maintained between the Kooragang Coal Terminal and Carrington Coal Terminal. If the queue for one of the terminals is substantially longer than for the other terminal, the schedule may be amended to ensure that the queues are kept reasonably even.