Royal Docklands

Royal Docklands

Docklands was blessed last month with royal visits by world cycling prince, Cadel Evans and a real royal, Crown Princess Mary of Denmark.

Princess Mary liked it here so much, she dropped by on two consecutive days – on Wednesday, November 23 for a business dinner at Central Pier and the next day to launch a tug boat at Victoria Harbour.

Cadel Evans spent Friday, November 25 at NewQuay raising money for youth mental health with the Suit Up and Ride event.  See pages 14-15 for our story and more pictures.

Princess Mary was greeted by a small group of locals when she came to dinner at Peninsula on the Wednesday evening.  

Less than 24 hours later she was back – this time to launch a new tug named Marysville in honour of the Black Saturday bushfire ravaged town and in recognition of her own name.

Children from the Harbour Family and Children’s Centre and workers from nearby businesses lined Merchant St to greet Princess Mary and Prince Frederik and they didn’t disappoint with generous waves for all.

Danish company Svitzer operates all around the world and has a presence in the Port of Melbourne.  Princess Mary doused the new Vietnamese-built, 250-tonne vessel with champagne in front of a select crowd, which included Marysville residents.

She and her husband inspected the tug before waving her way back to the motorcade and being whisked away to her next appointment.

Nearby, out in the harbour another Svitzer tug spewed torrents of water in celebration of the occasion.

Dock 5 residents got a first-class view of the ceremony and many lined the balconies to soak up the atmosphere.

Svitzer Australia managing director Mark Malone said: “In choosing this name, it is our pleasure and privilege to pay tribute to Marysville the town, and its people.”

“We’ve learned a great deal from Marysville and its people. About suffering and surviving. Bonding and rebuilding. About what makes a community a community, in the true sense of the word.”

“As maritime tradition usually dictates, all good vessels should take the name of a good lady, or location. When it came to this tug before us, we thought why not both?”

“These links between Denmark and Australia meant that in selecting the name for this vessel we could not overlook the opportunity to create a working tribute to both Marysville the place and the Crown Princess.”

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