From Baird Maritime
Once upon a time the Port of Launceston in Tasmania, which includes Port Dalrymple, was bustling.
In addition to significant amounts of Bass Strait shipping, from Tasmania to mainland Australia and the Bass Strait islands, there were frequent calls by British, German and Scandinavian ships.
The advent of the European Common Market and containerisation have very largely put an end to the international trade. Larger, more efficient ships have reduced the number of vessels required to service Bass Strait.
With the fruit trade to the United Kingdom practically non-existent and the Tasmanian population stagnant, the port obviously suffered. This attractively produced book records that sad decline in a collection of the author's very fine photographs.
This is a good and important record of a significant period of transition in Tasmanian maritime history.
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