10-year berthing licenses locked in

Parks Victoria (PV) has confirmed its overnight berthing arrangements on the lower Yarra River for the next 10 years.

Following an extensive competitive allocation process that included a multiple agency and industry association governance structure, skills-based assessment panel and independent probity advisor, PV awarded the most successful applicants overnight berths. They include:

Federation Wharf: Melbourne River Cruises and Yarra River Cruises

Southgate 1: Melbourne River Cruises

Southgate 2: Spirit of Melbourne

Southgate 3: Classic Cruises

Southgate 4: Melbourne Water Taxis

Banana Alley: Go Boat

South Wharf: Melbourne Water Taxis

PV’s District Manager of Waterways Michael Treanor told Southbank Local News that the four locations and 11 berths offered as part of the expression of interest (EOI) process were based on sites where it had designated infrastructure available for commercial operations. While the new arrangements still allow access to public berths for other commercial operators, overnight berthing is not permitted.

South Wharf was also offered for the first time by PV, taking the previous berth number from 10 to 11. Mr Treanor said the locations, berths, selection criteria and weighting were endorsed by the Lower Yarra River Management Advisory Committee.

“Assessments were based on the applicants addressing key evaluation criteria, as outlined in the EOI documentation and all applicants were asked to nominate their first, second and third preferences for berthing,” Mr Treanor said.

“The assessment panel allocated berths based on how well applicants met the selection criteria, their nominated preferences and three berthing allocation principles which included, safety for all river users, diversity in the final product offering across the suite of operators and manoeuvrability of larger vessels at specific berths.”