Port infrastructure

The port handles a diverse range of containerised, general and bulk cargo at over 30 commercial berths.

Terminals

Port of Melbourne is primarily a container port. Swanson Dock East & West (established in 1969) and Webb Dock East (established in 2017) are leading international container terminals in Australia. It handles more than one-third of Australia’s container trade.

Australia’s largest automotive trade terminal is at the port and typically handles up to 1000 new motor vehicles per day.

Multipurpose and bulk terminals handle a variety of non-containerised pack types, including farm equipment and machinery, breakbulk commodities like timber, paper, iron and steel, bulk products such as petroleum products, chemicals, grain, cement and other liquid and dry bulk products.

Port precinct

Overall, Port of Melbourne manages approximately 534 hectares of port land.

The port precinct, with most of its related infrastructure:

• extends west from the Bolte Bridge to the west bank of the Maribyrnong River
• south of the West Gate Freeway (M1) around Webb Dock.

Earlier locations

Earlier riverside quays for unloading and loading cargo moved downstream along the Yarra River for over a century as the city grew. This process got faster with the development of former port areas into today’s Docklands precinct.