A new marine control tower and operations center will be built in Port Hedland to allow for the safe and efficient movement of increasing numbers of vessels through the port.
It will cater for the harbor master operations, dredging management, port security, vessel traffic services and equipment, marine pilot briefing facilities and incident control.
Transport Minister Dean Nalder said when the existing control tower was built more than 45 years ago, fewer than 1,000 vessels moved through the port each year.
“ This is a significant project for the port. The new $70.7 million operations center will control the marine operations of the port, including vessel movements through the channel and offshore anchorages ,” Mr Nalder said.
By the time the new Integrated Marine Operations Center is operational in early 2018, the number of vessel movements through Port Hedland will have grown to 6,000 a year.