The Port of Geelong is located on the shores of Corio Bay at Geelong, Victoria, Australia. The port is the sixth-largest in Australia by tonnage. Major commodities handled by the port include crude oil and petroleum products, export grain and woodchips, alumina imports, and fertiliser. Major port industries include Alcoa's Point Henry smelter, AWB's grain elevator and Viva Energy's Geelong Oil Refinery. The Port of Geelong handled $5.6 billion worth of bulk cargo in 2004–05, made up of 12 million tonnes of cargo from 543 ship visits. History Before the initial settlement of Geelong, a sandbar across the bay from Point Lillias to Point Henry only allowed small ships to enter the inner harbour. Larger ships were required to drop anchor in the bay, and their cargo was brought into Geelong on lighters. At times it was possible to walk across the bay on the sandbar at low tide. The first channel through the sandbar was started in 1853, providing less than 4 metres draught for ships. This channel was straightened out and dredged at a depth of 6 metres in the 1860s. In 1881 dredging of a new channel was started which took 12 years to complete. It was named the Hopetoun Channel after the then Governor of Victoria, Lord Hopetoun, who opened it on 20 December 1893. By the early twentieth century shipping traffic had increased and the existing piers in the city area were proving inadequate. As a result, new port facilities were progressively provided in the North Geelong area. Management Management of the channels and port of Geelong was the responsibility of the Geelong Harbor Trust that was formed in December 1905. In addition, the Authority was responsible for the associated ports at Queenscliff, Barwon Heads, Lorne and Apollo Bay. In 1981, the trust was reconstituted as the Port of Geelong Authority as an attempt to follow modern practice with the naming of organisations responsible for ports operation throughout the world. The authority was privatised by the State Government, being sold to Ports Pty Ltd for $49.6 million on 1 July 1996. Ports Pty Ltd was a joint venture between Primera, a wholly owned subsidiary of TNT (30%) and Infrastructure Investment Corporation (70%). The port was later rebranded as Toll GeelongPort after the acquisition of TNT by Toll Holdings. The port is now branded as GeelongPort, and is a joint venture owned 50% by State Super