Wyndham Port is the only deep-water port between Broome and Darwin. The facility is a vital link within Northern Australia’s primary and secondary industries’ supply chains.
Exports include live cattle, raw mined products from across Northern Australia and produce from the Ord River irrigation area. Imports include diesel and ammonium nitrate for the mining industry.
The Port operations and management are currently overseen by Cambridge Gulf Limited, however the facility is owned by the Department of Transport, who regulates the facility jointly with its transitioning successor, the Kimberley Ports Authority.
All vessels over 35m without pilot exemption, operating within the Wyndham Port must have onboard a Marine Pilot licensed by the Kimberley Port Authority pursuant to the Port Authority Regulations 2001. For larger vessels, the pilot boards the ship at Lacrosse Island, which is 45 nautical miles north of the jetty. This makes Wyndham one of the longest pilotages in Australia.
Wyndham has a maximum tidal range of 8.2 meters and tidal streams run at up to 7 knots through the narrower sections of the Cambridge Gulf passage.