The proud LOC: L-R Luke Campbell, Ron Cox, Gildas Colleter, Paul Constance, Annabel Sandery, Jayne Hindle from East Coast Conferences, Andrew Pomeroy, Murray Townsend, Uddish Singh, Imran Lambay. Absent from pic: Monique Draycott, Neil Lawson, Alice Mumford, Paul Weston
It all started 52 years ago in 1973 with 55 registrations at the first Australian Conference on Coastal Engineering in Sydney, organised by the new EA National Committee on Coastal and Ocean Engineering (NCCOE).[1] A parallel series of Australasian Port and Harbour Conferences was started by PIANC Australia in 1986 and held in alternate years, until 1995 when the two Conferences joined forces under the title ‘Australasian Coasts and Ports’.
Collegiality and cooperation breeds success – thirty years later there were 508 registrations and 173 papers presented at Australasian Coasts&Ports 2025 held from 18 – 21 August in Adelaide.
Firstly – a huge shout out to the local organising cttee, including
Jayne Hindle and her team at East Coast conferences,
Paul Constance, Conference Chair (Flinders Ports & PIANC SA Regional Chair),
Luke Campbell (Chair – PIANC AU-NZ),
Prof Andrew Pomeroy (Chair- NCCOE),
Gildas Colleter (PIANC Climate Champion),
Hon A/Prof Ron Cox (NCCOE) and Neil Lawson, PIANC legends
Monique Draycott and Uddish Singh (WGA & PIANC YPs).
Imran Lambay (Maritime Constructions),
Alice Mumford (Events Manager, EA),
Annabel Sandery (Cape Advisory),
Dr Murray Townsend, (Manager Coast Protection SA DEW),
Paul Weston (EO – PIANC AU-NZ),
Their work enabled, facilitated and made possible the most successful Coasts&Ports ever (so far!)
The week began with two pre-Conference Workshops on Monday hosted by UNSW Water Research Laboratory ‘Coastal Engineering’ and PIANC AU-NZ ‘Strategy to Reality: Implementing Decarbonisation and ESG Strategies’, followed by a welcome reception on the evening. (Thank you WGA!)
The next day, a warm and educative Welcome to Country from Cliffy Wilson, of Kuma Kaaru opened Conference proceedings and was followed by addresses from our platinum sponsors, Paul Caica, Presiding Member of the SA Coast Protection Board, Katrina Dodd – General Manager Engineering of McConnell Dowell, and Randall Bonner from Flinders Port Holdings.
Our first keynote speaker Justin Cross presented on ‘Ports and maritime issues and projects for Pacific islands and SE Asia’. Justin is based in Hanoi, and is a ports consultant with Haskoning. He is also the Chair of PIANC Working Group 240 ‘Guidance for ports in small island countries.’ The WG240 report is drafted and ready for PIANC’s rigorous review processes. It was Justin’s first Coasts & Ports, and he was very impressed by the variety, the breadth and also the depth of knowledge and experience on display at the Conference.
Other Conference presenters referencing PIANC Working Groups included Jordan Butler with his topic. ‘Under Pressure: Challenging Over- Conservatism in Australasian Fender Panel Design Through WG211’, Marc Percher on WG225, with an update of the seismic design guidelines for port structures, and Grace Go discussing WG261 An Update to PIANC Design Principles for Dry Bulk Marine Terminals.
Presentations were ordered under broad Conference topics of ports & maritime, port operations and management, port planning, coastal and ocean, blue economy, dredging and reclamation, technology and digital, coastal planning, working with nature, coastal processes, future proofing, technology and planning. So many great presentations, so many good people! Full Conference program is available here.
Tuesday evening, the always useful Women in Coastal Geoscience and Engineering discussion panel and function (thank you Hatch!) was followed by the Young Professionals Networking (thank you Royal Haskoning) and both events provided further opportunities for sharing experiences and co0nnecting. Images are available here.
Wednesday was a morning of more excellent presentations with the afternoon devoted to field trips. Attendees had the luxury, or difficulty, of choosing three options:
a) exploring two key Port Adelaide sites northwest of Adelaide,
b) exploring Adelaide’s actively managed metropolitan coastline, including sand replenishment programs,
c) a Flinders Ports bus tour, offering a comprehensive view of Port Adelaide operations.
We gathered again that night for the awesome Conference dinner (thank you Maritime Constructions!) where the 2025 awards were presented to some very worthy winners. The great food was accompanied by a fascinating dinner speaker, Alex Goad who shared the story of his creative marine engineering and design company Reef Design Lab. Dinner pics are here.
The final day, Thursday 21st saw a special SA panel session focusing on ‘Local Government SA: Climate Ready Coasts: Accelerating Coastal Hazard Adaptation’ with Michael Arman, Director, BRM Advisory, as opening keynote speaker on the topic, and local and international panel contributors, including local expert Annabel Sandery and NZ’s Dr Cathy Bebelman, Head of Science and Sustainability at Auckland Transport.
Thursday afternoon had more great presenters, who showed remarkable stamina to stay the course of all that information sharing, networking and occasional neural overload! Conferences are exhilarating and exhausting. We can’t wait for the next one, and the secret is out – it will be held in that beautiful port and capital city, Wellington!
Thanks again to our marvellous platinum supporters , the SA Government’s Coast Protection Board, McConnell Dowell, Flinders Port Holdings Pty Limited and to our Gold supporters Maritime Constructions (Imran Lambay) for the wonderful dinner, and to WGA for the warm welcome reception! Thanks to all Silver and Bronze sponsors and to all our trade exhibitors! See full list here . Thanks to all for your generous contribution to your community of practice, and without whom we could not do any of this!!
Thanks also to the indefatigable PIANC Australia & New Zealand Board and Regional Chapters, and the YPs! Thank you to all the presenters, NextGen poster creators, attendees, catering and support staff at Adelaide Convention Centre, and to our ports and maritime community social media posters! Keep Linking us in!
[1] In 1985 the New Zealand Coastal Society and the Institution of Professional Engineers of New Zealand hosted the first NZ conference in Christchurch.