Resilient Lady at Station Pier

Community concern was received about the amount of noise emanating from the Virgin cruise ship at Station Pier on Sunday evening 10 December. The BCNA has raised the noise concerns with Ports Victoria.

The BCNA has been informed this was due to an evening function to mark the launch and first Melbourne-based cruise of the new Virgin ship, the Resilient Lady. The ship has now left Station Pier on a cruise to Hobart and will return to Melbourne on 16 December.

Whilst cruise ships are mostly welcomed by the community, we do receive occasional complaints about their associated logistics, notably noise and the ensuing congestion from arriving or departing passengers. We have recently received a letter from the Department of Transport in which they state that Yarra Trams has committed to place additional services during the weekends on Route 109, when cruise ships are scheduled to arrive at Beacon Cove.

Complaints or queries for cruise ships are best addressed to Ports Victoria who are responsible for Station Pier and collect relevant fees from the cruise lines. They can be reached by emailing cruise@ports.vic.gov.au.

New Air Quality Monitoring Program at Station Pier

The BCNA has been briefed by Ports Victoria on an air quality monitoring program that has been started at Station Pier this month.  Australian certified monitoring equipment has been set up beside the Gatehouse.

It will monitor for nitrogen oxides, sulphur oxides and particulate emissions. The monitoring results will give a better understanding of the local air quality around Station Pier. The period will include cruise ship seasons, the time between cruise seasons as well as seasonal weather variations. Ports Victoria plan to share the results with the Environment Protection Authority Victoria (EPA) and the local community via monthly reports with the first report expected late January 2024. There is also a plan to develop an online dashboard that will enable real-time viewing of air quality at Station Pier.

BCNA welcomes the Ports Victoria project as air quality has been a concern to residents near Station Pier for a long time. For more details, click here.