PORT of Newcastle has announced the appointment of Noel Dent as strategic development manager for the proposed Multi-purpose Deepwater Terminal project.
Mr Dent has more than three decades of expertise in container shipping – including more than 20 years as ANL general manager operations and logistics – and is to be responsible for further building relationships with key commercial stakeholders.
Port of Newcastle CEO Craig Carmody said Mr Dent was a widely respected and highly experienced executive.
“Noel understands the full gamut of maritime operations – including international and domestic shipping, logistics, operations management, container management, port management, procurement, freight, intermodal transportation, ports and terminals,” Mr Carmody said.
“We are pleased to benefit from Noel’s extensive knowledge and experience across all international and domestic containerised shipping, particularly with Australia’s key trading partners in Asia.”
In a statement, Mr Dent said he looked forward to contributing towards an important project.
“The MDT is an exciting project – I’m very pleased to be part of this, making good use of the experience I have gathered over many years in the Australian shipping industry,” Mr Dent said.
“I look forward to working with the whole Port of Newcastle team to bring this project to fruition.”
The announcement follows the port’s earlier appointment in June of former WSP executive Glenn Thornton and former Aurizon and GE Renewable Energy leader Paul Brown.
Port of Newcastle has also begun recruitment for the MDT senior project manager.
Mr Carmody said Port of Newcastle continued to work towards the project.
“Subject to the restoration of a level playing field – the removal of the penalty on containers through the port – the MDT project will create cost efficiencies for businesses across NSW and underpin the diversification of the Hunter economy for a sustainable, uncontained future,” Mr Carmody said.
The proposed terminal remains contentious and the policy of the NSW government is for the next state box facility to be built at Newcastle.
A HoustonKemp study done this year estimated the MDT would contribute $2.5bn in economic activity across Australia.
Others, however, argue the next box port needs to be closer to the Sydney population base.
