Bell Bay, Tasmania

Bell Bay is an industrial centre and port located on the eastern shore of the Tamar River, in northern Tasmania, Australia. It lies just south of George Town. The port brings in Wood Chips, Containers, Bulk Materials, Alumina/Aluminium, Petroleum and other materials.

For the geographic feature in Antarctica, see Bell Bay (Antarctica).

Bell Bay
Location
Location	Bell Bay, Tasmania
Coordinates	41.130444°S 146.859199°E / -41.130444; 146.859199
Details
Size	2,000 hectares (20 km^2)
Available berths	7
Rail lines	Bell Bay Line
Rail gauge	Narrow gauge
Street access	East Tamar Highway
Truck types	B-Double
Statistics
Annual TEU	47,690

History

Bell Bay Post Office opened on 18 September 1951 and closed in 1973.[1]

Industry

It hosts an aluminium smelter operated by Comalco,[2] and the Tasmanian Electro Metallurgical Company manganese alloy smelter operated by South32 (previously by BHP Billiton).[3] The Bell Bay Power Station was decommissioned in 2009, replaced by the Tamar Valley Power Station built next door.

Transport

Bell Bay is connected by a 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) narrow gauge railway to the main line at Launceston.

Berths

Bell Bay has seven berths:[4]

Bell Bay berths

Berth	Name	Use
No. 1 Berth	Rio Tinto Berth	Aluminium from Rio Tinto Alcan and Alumina
No. 2 Berth	Interstate RO/RO Berth	Interstate Roll on/Roll off ships
No. 3 Berth	Bulk Materials Berth	Coal, Iron, Bauxite, Coke, Petcoke, etc.
No. 4 Berth	Tankers & Chemicals Berth	Petroleum, Crude Oil, Oil Products, etc.
No. 5 Berth	Container Berth	Used for containers
No. 6 Berth	Multi-Purpose Berth	Any other material and woodchips
No. 7 Berth

References

1. Premier Postal History. "Post Office List". Premier Postal Auctions. Retrieved 16 June 2012.
2. "Bell Bay Aluminium". Rio Tinto Aluminium. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
3. "TEMCO". South32. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
4. "Bell Bay" (PDF). TasPorts. Retrieved 15 August 2020.