The second stage of the Cairns Shipping Development Project officially started today with the arrival of the backhoe dredger Woomera, which will soon begin clearing the hard clays from the Trinity Inlet.
The 111m-long, German-built dredging vessel Balder R began its task on July 1 to open up the inlet for large cruise ships after a successful stint at dredging sand for the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast.
Under this capital development project, the dredgers will remove material from the channel, which will then be delivered to a facility 3km offshore and pumped along an 8km pipeline to a dedicated site at the Northern Sands mine.
Member for Cairns, Michael Healy MP, said that the Cairns Shipping Development would mean that for the very first time, cruise ships up to 300m in length would be able to enter the Cairns Port.
Dredging works are expected to be complete mid-September.