Esperance Port Authority completed a $54 million upgrade, capable of handling Cape class vessels (up to 180,000 tonnes) and fully loaded Panamax class vessels (up to 75,000 tonnes) requiring the reclamation of 23 hectares of land, the building of two 300,000 tonne storage sheds, rail upgrades, and the installation of a travelling ship-loader on the new berth, opened on 26th February.

With the 230m long Berth 3 depth of 19.6 metres, the Port of Esperance became the deepest port in southern Australia.

Issues relating to the export of 9000 tonnes of lead carbonate transported by truck and rail from Wiluna for export by ship at the Port were a source of ongoing debate between the Port, relevant government agencies, the exporter (Magellan Metals) and the community during the year. The Board is confident that all parties are now in a position to have the lead removed from the Port before the end of the 2008 calendar year.

$19 million sulphur storage and handling facility with storage capacity of 120,000 tonnes was completed in March, with the first sulphur arriving at the Port in May from Vancouver, Canada.

A $12 million multi-purpose rail mounted shore-based gantry crane was delivered to the Port in August. The crane is used to load and off load containers, and a purpose-fitted grab discharges bulk sulphur imported from Canada for the Ravensthorpe project.

Magellan Metals, exporters of the lead shipped from Esperance has agreed to pay $9 million dollars towards the town's clean-up. It was last year banned from exporting lead from its Wiluna mine through the Esperance Port after revelations that lead had contaminated some residents, wildlife and rainwater tanks.

Under the agreement with the State Government, the funds from the mining company will be used to pay for completed, as well as planned clean-up works at the port and the town site.

The 20-tonne multi-purpose crane fell off Berth 2 on 10th September into about 14.5 metres of water alongside the Berth, after its brakes failed.

No-one was injured and it was recovered.

The Port Authority owns ~ 83 ha of land adjacent to the inner harbour area. The majority of the land is vested by the Esperance Town Planning Scheme in the Port Authority and is zoned ‘Railway and Port Installation’.

As at July 2013, the design depth of the Port of Esperance’s Berths 1 and 2 is 14.6 m CD (Chart Datum), Berth 3 and the inner channel are 19.1 m CD, the middle channel is 19.5 m CD, and the outer channel is 19.9 m CD.

The Black Swan Shed located adjacent to berth two with an original storage capacity of 30,000 tonnes, was completed in 1997. The shed was extended and its storage capacity increased to 40,000 tonnes in 2002, following the resumption in 1993 of nickel exporting. It was decided to demolish the shed and for the area to be used for containers to be loaded for shipment. Between July and early September 2013 the shed was demolished by contractors.

The former main Port entrance was closed as part of the $120 million Port Access Corridor project and trucks can now only access the Port from Hughes Road. Hughes Road was not designed to be the Port’s primary road entry and will be upgraded to ensure that it is capable of safely handling the traffic volumes. The proposed upgrade will substantially rebuild the road to acceptable standards, and is expected to be undertaken early in 2015.

Esperance’s new Pilot Boat was received, replacing the 1989-built ‘Spitfire’, which was broken by a wave in 2013, after over 20 years’ service. Discussions between traditional landowners and the Port staff resulted in the new addition being named ‘Kwillina’, meaning gliding dolphin. A former lifeboat, ‘Khami’ was used as a stand-in Pilot Boat.