Everything about Bass Strait totally explained
Bass Strait is a sea
strait separating
Tasmania from the south of the
Australian mainland (
Victoria in particular). The first
European to discover it was
Matthew Flinders in
1798. Flinders named it after his ship's doctor
George Bass.
The existence of the strait had already been suggested by the master of the
Sydney Cove when he reached Sydney having been wrecked on
Preservation Island. He reported that the strong south westerly swell and the tides and currents suggested that the island was in a channel linking the Pacific and southern Indian Ocean. The Governor of New South Wales,
John Hunter thus wrote to
Joseph Banks in August 1797 that it seemed certain the strait existed.
Approximately 240 km wide at its narrowest point and generally around 50 metres deep, it contains many islands, with
King Island and
Flinders Island home to substantial human settlements.
Like the rest of the waters surrounding Tasmania, and particularly because of its limited depth, it's notoriously rough, with many ships lost there during the
19th century. A lighthouse was erected on
Deal Island in 1848 to assist ships in the eastern part of the Straits, but there were no guides to the western entrance until the
Wilsons Promontory Lighthouse was completed in
1859, followed by another at Cape Wickham at the northern end of
King Island in
1861.
Strong currents between the Antarctic-driven southeast portions of the
Indian Ocean and the
Tasman Sea's
Pacific Ocean waters provide a strait of powerful, wild storm waves. To illustrate its wild strength, Bass Strait is both twice as wide and twice as rough as the
English Channel. The shipwrecks on the Tasmanian and Victorian coastlines number in the hundreds, although stronger metal ships and modern marine
navigation have dropped the danger sharply. Many vessels, some quite large, have disappeared without trace, or left scant evidence of their passing. Despite myths and legends of
piracy,
wrecking and supernatural phenomena akin to those of the
Bermuda Triangle, such disappearances can be invariably ascribed to treacherous combinations of wind and sea conditions, and the numerous semi-submerged rocks and reefs within the Straits. One of the most famous and well documented recent incidents is the
Frederick Valentich Disappearance of 1978.
Despite the strait's difficult waters it provided a safer and less boisterous passage for ships on the route from Europe or India to Sydney in the early 19th century. The strait also saved 700 miles distance on the voyage.
Islands
There are over 50 islands in Bass Strait. Major islands include:
Western section:
South eastern section:
Furneaux Group
North eastern section:
Kent Group
Hogan Island
Curtis Island
Natural resources
A number of oil and gas fields exist in Bass Strait. The eastern field, known as the Gippsland Basin, was discovered in the 1960s and is located about 50 km off the coast of Gippsland. The oil and gas is sent via a pipeline to gas processing facilities and oil refineries at Longford, Western Port, Altona and Geelong, as well as by tanker to New South Wales.
The western field, known as the Otway Basin, was discovered in the 1990s offshore near Port Campbell. Its exploitation began in 2005.
Infrastructure
Transport
The fastest and cheapest method of travel across Bass Strait is by air. The main carriers are Qantas, JetStar, and Virgin Blue. Major airports include the Hobart International Airport and Launceston Airport; the smaller airports are serviced by Regional Express which generally flies only to Melbourne and the Bass Strait islands.
The domestic sea route is serviced by two Spirit of Tasmania passenger vehicle ferries, based in Devonport, Tasmania. The ships travel daily in opposite directions between Devonport and Station Pier in Melbourne, as overnight trips with additional daytime trips during the peak summer season.
Australian Olympic Bronze Medallist Michael Blackburn sailed a Laser Sailboat all the way across the Bass Strait. This crossing is also made semi-regularly by experienced sea kayakers, usually by island hopping on the Eastern side.
See Transportation in Tasmania for more details.
Energy
The Basslink HVDC electrical cable has been in service since 2006. It has the capacity to carry up to 630 Megawatts of electrical power across the strait and is the longest submarine power cable in the world.
Alinta owns a submarine gas pipeline, delivering natural gas to large industrial customers near George Town, as well as the Powerco gas network in Tasmania.
Communications
The first submarine communications cable across Bass Strait was laid in 1859. Starting at Cape Otway, Victoria, it went via King Island and Three Hummock Island, made contact with the Tasmanian mainland at Stanley Head, and then continued on to George Town. However it started failing within a few weeks of completion, and by 1861 it failed completely.
Tasmania is currently connected to the mainland via two Telstra-operated fibre optic cables; since 2006, dark fibre capacity has also been available on the Basslink HVDC cable.
Other submarine cables include:
Popular Culture
On the popular Australian soap Neighbours, one of its most dramatic storylines unfolded when a 1940s themed joy flight to Tasmania was sabotaged by a bomb. The plane crashed into the water in the middle of the night and many characters lives were put at risk, with some drowning. See Neighbours Plane Crash.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Bass Strait'.
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