Pilotage
Flinders Ports has a skilled and highly experienced local pilotage team available 24 hours each day all year round to help vessels safely navigate to their berth once they enter port waters.
We require all marine pilots to hold a Master Class 1 Certificate of Competency. All pilots receive ongoing training and are subject to strict quality standards and monitoring. In marine pilotage, many safety lessons and protocols have been adopted from the airline sector. Pilots undergo training in Bridge Resource Management and Advanced Bridge Resource Management. Pilots must also complete ‘scaled ship model’ training, where emergency scenarios are practised using a ‘to scale’ vessel on water. Emergency drills and other training exercises are also regularly conducted on maritime simulators.
Port Bonython Handbook
Communications on VHF radio telephonic channels, 6, 8, 12, 16, 67 are with the call sign “Spencer VTS”,
Port Bonython Port Rules
Mooring
Once a vessel arrives alongside the berth, we deploy our highly skilled mooring team to ensure that the vessel is safely secured to a suitable wharf or jetty in the port.
Whenever a ship is scheduled to set sail, the mooring team makes sure that the mooring lines are removed from the wharf and retrieved by the ship.
Surveying
Our expert team conducts inspections and surveys of marine vessels of any size including draft surveys, trim surveys, on/off hire conditional surveys, liquid cargo quantity surveys and hold cleanliness surveys.
We can also provide surveys in all our regional ports on request.
Transhipment
Flinders Ports delivers certain aspects of the transhipment operations of iron-ore in Upper Spencer Gulf.
Through our Whyalla division we have a management role, providing the Loadmasters and surveying, load planning and vessel correspondence services for the iron-ore loading process. A Floating Offshore Transfer Barge (FOTB), two Self-Unloading Barges (SUBs) and a Transhipment Shuttle Vessel (CSL Whyalla) are used to tranship iron-ore onto Capesize vessels anchored around 8 nautical miles out in Spencer Gulf. We also provide labouring services within the transhipment operation.
