Meet Mr Docklands

Keith Rankin is one of those lucky few that has found a beautiful place to live, a great job where he is constantly meeting new characters and an important role in a developing community.

Keith has been working and living in the Docklands longer than nearly everybody else. He came here in 1995 as an engineer to work and skipper a charter boat and fell in love with the area.

By 2000 he was one of the first people to put down a deposit for an apartment in one of Docklands’ brand new buildings.

He recalls NewQuay being very different to the place it is today and said when he arrived there were just three buildings standing along the waterfront.

Keith enjoyed his job here so much he eventually bought the Mandalay and the Challenger, his current charter boats, and began his own charter boat company. Rather than finding business in the established and bustling waters of Sydney and Queensland, he decided the Docklands would provide a unique and exciting opportunity.

Since purchasing them, Keith’s boats have been all over Docklands.

“My charter boats started in the river, then moved to Berth 16, which is known as NewQuay, then moved to Berth 15 and then to Berth 14, where you can see them today,” he said.

Keith led the way for dozens of others to open successful charter boat companies around Docklands.

Keith’s boats offer perhaps the most beautiful office in Docklands and his weekends are spent cruising away from Central Pier, sharing the sights along the water’s edge all the way to Hobson’s Bay and Williamstown.

As relaxing and ideal as his weekend job sounds, Keith works harder than everyone else to represent and lobby for the Docklands community.

As president of the Docklands Chamber of Commerce, Keith knows everything there is to know about what is going on in the area. He works tirelessly to attend meetings and represent his fellow Docklanders, smaller traders and larger businesses in front of government and semi-government authorities such as the City of Melbourne, Places Victoria and Yarra Trams.

“It’s nice to know, for instance from my business perspective, that if I can’t go to a meeting with the City of Melbourne … someone else from the chamber can attend on behalf of everybody,” he said.

Keith is also the vice president of the Victorian Charter Vessel Owners Association where he assists in making decisions relating to the environment and boat safety in the Port of Melbourne.

To add to his busy schedule Keith also took on a role with the Melbourne Business Precinct Board, where he aims to represent all business precincts in Melbourne’s CBD.

As a resident and a business owner as well as a member of the chamber Keith hopes for a brilliant future for the Docklands.

“Like any place that’s developing it’s difficult to see what the future holds. We like to see the beautiful buildings. We like to see people getting to know the area,” he said.