PRESSURE to expand the Port of Hastings to play a larger role as a container port has increased with the release of a blueprint by Asciano outlining its ambitions for the next 30 years.
The transport infrastructure group, parent company of National Rail and Patrick Stevedores, which operates the Port of Hastings, has presented its bold plan to the state government, opposition and the Greens.
Highlights include Hastings taking over from Swanson Dock in Melbourne as the state's prime container port and the parallel development of Geelong, which would require significant dredging of shipping channels in Corio Bay.
Port of Melbourne Corporation in 2008-09 spent $720 million dredging Port Phillip Bay on the eastern side between the entrance and Rosebud and then north to the Port of Melbourne.
Asciano wants Geelong to take bigger container ships and dredging would cost at least $360 million. It wants to decommission the Port of Melbourne by 2040 with Hastings and Geelong taking over.
Shipping industry experts say Victoria will see the container trade of 2 million movements a year increase to 8 million by 2035.
Port of Melbourne is the nation's biggest container port, handling 35 per cent of all trade.
Asciano is telling the government its grand plan would aid regional development and provide significant economic stimulus to the Western Port region and Geelong.
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