THE past week has been an historic one for the Port of Fremantle for several reasons. The deepest-draft ship ever to leave Fremantle Harbour, container ship MSC Sindy, departed the port. And, passengers from the cruise ship Vasco da Gama left for a period of isolation on Rottnest Island.

The 336.7-metre Sindy has a draft (depth under water or distance from waterline to bottom of keel) of 14.6 metres. While the harbour is dredged to 14.7 metres, a high tide of one metre made it possible for the ship to transit safely out of the channel. Critical to achieving this draft was the deployment of Dynamic Under Keel Clearance technology.

The displacement of the Sindy was 138,820 tonnes. Laden with containers, the ship is now headed for Singapore.

Fremantle can handle the largest container ships visiting Australia – a critical factor for Western Australia as the port continues to facilitate trade at this important time.

Image: Port of Fremantle
Image: Port of Fremantle
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Image: Port of Fremantle