Kwinana Bulk Terminal exports one million tonnes of coal

Fremantle Ports stevedore Michael Howard (L), Griffin Coal supervisor Kelvin Pitman and Fremantle Ports supervisor Steve Nash (R) on board the Ken Ocean as the millionth tonne of coal is loaded

Fremantle Ports’ Kwinana Bulk Terminal has now exported one million tonnes of coal to China and India, with the record achieved on 3 June in the bulker Ken Ocean.

Manager Bulk Business, Mark Pearce, said the million-tonne lift took 25 ships to achieve, averaging 40,000t per ship.

“The first ship was loaded in January 2007 in a one-off trial,” he said, “and our export campaign-proper began in September 2007.

“We have a close working relationship with Griffin Coal management which has helped us to achieve this feat, and together we have brought about many improvements in the receival, storage and loading of Griffin’s coal.

“The staff at KBT have been great in their efforts to improve the efficiency of the system, and should be commended. Export rates are now at their highest due to improvements we have made to the system.”