Port Walcott

Port Walcott (historically also Tien Tsin Harbour) is a large open water harbour located on the northwest coast of Western Australia. It is one of three major iron ore exporting ports in the Pilbara region, and in the top five ports in Australia by tonnage (81 million tonnes in 2010/11).

Port Walcott's main population centre is Point Samson, which has a population of 298 (2011 census). Port Walcott receives an annual rainfall of about 295 mm. The most rain received by Port Walcott in a day was 336 mm.

Port Walcott lies between Dampier and Port Hedland at the mouth of the Harding River. Landmarks within it include Cape Lambert, Wickham, Jarman Island, Butchers Inlet and the historical town of Cossack (Tien Tsin), the first port in the northwest of Western Australia. The town of Roebourne is situated further inland on the banks of the Harding River.

Early European exploration of northwest Western Australia commenced around the Nickol Bay and Port Walcott areas, as colonial settlers established pastoral and pearling industries in the late-19th century. Early shipping links to the outside world centred on the port of Cossack (Tien Tsin), now a ghost town.

In 1818, the explorer and surveyor Captain Phillip Parker King, in the Mermaid, charted Nickol Bay. Visits to the region by American whalers are recorded to have occurred from around the 1840–50s. In April 1861, a government-funded expedition sailed to Nickol Bay in the Dolphin, while in 1862, Bateman (of John and Walter Bateman) sent his vessel Flying Foam to harvest pearl shell in the area. In April 1863 Captain Peter Hedland on the Mystery discovered Mangrove Harbour (later named Port Hedland) and Captain John Jarman on the Tien Tsin discovered Tien Tsin Harbour (later named Port Walcott).

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