PONRABBEL The Dredge

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Here is some documentation of  PONRABBEL She is at rest on ROTTENrow up river slightly from Kings Wharf on the Tamar, Launceston, Tasmania. She has been here awaiting her fate since the Marine Board abandoned her in 1960s.

One of her steam powered reciprocating engines is key artefact from Launceston’s port settlement era now on display in the grounds of the Australian Maritime Colledge. It has been recognised for its national significance and documented as part of Australia's maritime history. The other engine is at the Low Head Pilot Station Museum and it is planned to restore it to working order. 

The PONRABBEL II's steam engine is among 10 items identified as being  objects of maritime significance in a collaborative project with the Australian National Maritime Museum. The Ponrabbel II played a vital role in ensuring the viability of the Port of Launceston and the construction of a down river port at Bell Bay. 

She operated in the Tamar River from the late 1920s to 1960s ensuring that ships could berth as close to the city centre as possible.   

For most of her working life she was used to dredge the river channel near Launceston. During the 1960s the port was moved down the river to Bell Bay and the ship was used in the construction of berths before being decommissioned and left to rot at Kings Wharf. 

Her engines were removed and a partially restored engine was donated to AMC in the 1980s.. PONRABBEL ll's other engine is on display at the Low Head Pilot Station Museum and it is planned to restore it to working condition.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO

NB: CORRECTION myth had it that this was the "LAST RESTING PLACE" of the PONRABBEL but it turns out not to be so. Rather it is the last resting place of another bucket dredge, THE PLATYPUS ... CLICK HERE to watch a video of THE PLATYPUS (6' 33") in the Tamar Island wetlands.

Image courtesy of Low Head Pilot Station Museum
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The Ponrabbel operated as a steam 'bucket dredge' in the Tamar River from the 1920s until the 1960s. The Port of Launceston authority was determined that as many ships as possible should berth at wharves close to the city centre. Attempts to move the port further down the river were vigorously resisted as Launcestonians imagined their city as a port – and sometimes as an alternative 'capital'.

It is no accident that the memory of this dredge lives on in the memories and imaginations of so many Launcestonians as the silting of the Tamar persists – and is likely to continue to do so as the estuary is ever likely to continue to silt up. Indeed, the Tamar's silting is a contentious political football that is being flicked between Local, State and Federal Governments against various political backdrops – particularly at election time.

"The Tamar Estuary is a drowned valley formed during a faulting event during the Tertiary period. Tectonic, volcanic and glacial activities have helped shape the Tamar Valley into that which we see today. The Estuary receives three major river systems: the South Esk; the NorthEsk; and the Meander. These three main catchments form a large drainage basin, which covers approximately 18% of Tasmania’s land mass." – Parks & Wildlife Service Tasmania – Given the estuary's geography there is little wonder that at the confluence of the Nth & SthEsk Rivers there might be be silting albeit exasperated by thepostcolonial agricultural and forestry exploitation of the Tamar's catchments.

The Ponrabbel was used to dredge the channel near Launceston to facilitate shipping access. As larger ships were brought into the Tamar some strategic rocks in the Tamar were blasted and removed by thePonrabbel to improve navigation. She was also used in the building of the Bell Bay berthing facilities. Albeit that commercial shipping barely persists in the upper reaches of the Tamar, the silting of the estuary'interferes' with the waterway's aesthetics and its recreational 'utility' – and is thus seen as tourism detractor and simultaneously as evidence of environmental degradation.

The area around the Tamar Estuary was a placescape occupied by various bands of Aboriginal people, who were later called ‘The Northern Midlands Tribe’ by the Europeans who had moved into the valley and taken the Aborigines’ land. According to contemporary'authorities', the estuary itself was known by the Aborigines as"kun.er.mur.luk.er", or ["ponrabbel"]. Port Dalrymple was recorded as being called "lor.er.nul.ray.tit.te.yer" and the Port Dalrymple bands known as the "le.ter.re.mair.re.ner" and "py.he.mair.re.me.ner" people – Parks & Wildlife Service Tasmania

In a contemporary context the underlying assumptions attached to the Tasmanian Aboriginal people's 'languages' , and their use in place naming, may be contested in a linguistic and cultural context given the paucity of anthropology and linguistics of the colonial era when Aboriginal vocabularies were collected. Meanings can be found in context and given that the 'palawa' people's cultural realities and belief systems were looked at from the 'perspective of clonisation''ponrabbel's palawa' meaning/s is open to contention.

Specifications

• Type of Vessel: TS Bucket Dredge.
• Date Built: 1916.
• Builder: Ferguson Bros. Ltd., Glasgow.
• Dead Weight: 457 tons.
• Length: 155ft 3in.
• Breadth: 34ft 2in.
• Owner: Marine Board of Launceston, Tasmania.
• Engines: 2 X 2 cyl 15in & 30in X 21in.
• Engine Builder: Ferguson Bros Ltd., Glasgow.

The Ponrabbel was built under the supervision of surveyors in accordance with the rules and regulations of Lloyd’s Registry of Shipping.