Anketell Port

Anketell Port, also known as Port Robinson, Coordinates: 20°39′S 117°3′E / 20.650°S 117.050°E / -20.650; 117.050 is a natural harbour in the Pilbara region of Western Australia (WA). The port is 10 kilometres west of Cape Lambert and 30 km east of Karratha.^[1]

According to the WA Mangrove Assessment Project, Port Robinson is the area: "South of Dixon Island, east of Cleaverville, West of Bouger Entrance", north of the "Mouth of Rocky Creek plus surrounds".^[2]

History

By the 1870s, Port Robinson had become a secondary harbour used by the pearling industry based at Cossack and other coastal shipping.^[3]

Use of both Cossack and Port Robinson declined after the pearling fleet moved to Broome during the 1880s. Both Pt Robinson and the nearby townsite of Cleaverville were named after William Cleaver Robinson, who served three terms as Governor of Western Australia.

The mariners' guide Australia Pilot in 1959 described Port Robinson as: "a snug little harbour available for small vessels with local knowledge, of 8 or 9 feet ...".^[4]

In 2013, the Australian Premium Iron Joint Venture (API) received primary governmnet approvals under the Environmental Protection Act 1986 and Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 for Anketell Port, a proposed deep water port. The port will serve several iron ore mines, to which it will be connected by a railway.^[5] Anketell Port is expected to be shipping ore by 2017.^[6] It is part of the West Pilbara Iron Ore Project.^[7] The port and rail construction is being undertaken by Aurizon,^[8] Anketell Port is named after the nearby Mount Anketell.

See also

• Pilbara Railways

Footnotes