The Port Authority Survey Services team ensures the waters of Sydney Harbour, Port Botany, Port Kembla, Yamba and Eden are safe for shipping at all times.
Depths of channels and berths can change over time, and unexpected hazards—such as a 12m-long pole found upright in the Harbour bottom or cars dumped from shore—can appear without warning.
Port Authority’s Survey Services team regularly conducts hydrographic and bathymetric surveys across Sydney Harbour, Botany Bay, Port Kembla, Yamba, and Eden. These surveys help identify potential hazards and monitor changes in berth and channel depths, ensuring safe navigation for commercial and recreational vessels.
Beyond hydrographic surveys, the team also performs engineering, monitoring, and environmental surveys, calibrates and deploys wave-measuring buoys, and manages wave, wind, current, and tide data. Survey Services is also available for external client requests, and historical survey data can be purchased.
Port Authority’s survey team members are highly qualified and experienced, actively engaged in national and international hydrographic initiatives. They contribute to key industry associations, including the NSW Survey Mapping Industry Council, Surveying & Spatial Sciences Institute, International Federation of Surveyors, and Australasian Hydrographic Society.
Survey information
