I arrived in East Timor in February 2000 to help take over the port from 10 FSB who were soon to go home to Australia after serving 4 months under INTERFET.

There were a number of duties that we had to take over before the hand over could be complete. Security of the port was of the highest importance. This was up to the SSM who organised work parties to carry out any changes, which had to be made to the port's perimeter. Once the security matters were sorted, we began operating the wharf. We were responsible for the unloading of all shipping and the transport of all cargo from the wharf to the Transit Area.

We would also transport cargo direct to units in the Dili area and store cargo in the bound sheds, which were located in the port area.

All shipping, which came into Dili, had to come through us as we operated the only serviceable port in East Timor. The workload was massive which required us to work long and tiring hours. The troop started off with four sections, which soon, after some restructuring, was reduced to two. This added even more strain to the troops, as we had to work even longer hours to keep up with the workload.

The day's work consisted of two sections operating the port. The first section would work the wharf. This involved the unloading of all ships that entered the port and the unloading and back loading of HMAS Jervis Bay. The second section would work the Transit Area. This consisted of receipting and dispatching of all cargo which came through the port. All cargo, which was stored in the Transit Area, was transported in one of two ways. Either it was shipped out by sea using LCH's, which arrived at the hard located in the Transit Area, or by moved the troop's clearance transport. The remaining cargo would be stored in unit lots and would be collected at a latter date.

The most important day of our week was Monday. This was when the CEC Dream would bring in all the rations for the United Nations. We called this Reefer Day. The day would start at 0600h; this is when the Dream would dock. The section working the wharf at the time was responsible for the unload and dispatch of all reefers to surrounding units and then reload and backload of all containers. This operation could take anything up to 24 hours to complete, making it a very long and tiring day for all involved. If we needed to, we could call personnel from other sections in to assist.

The operations we carried out at the port involved a lot of hard work and long hours. Most people who lived and worked there had very little experience but did their best to achieve the goal that was set for us. In the end, we were able to operate the port safely and efficiently and up to the standards of the Battalion and the United Nations.

176 AD Sqn Terminal Operators unloading the HMAS Tobruk at Dili Port.

HMAS Tarakan being unloaded at the hard.

Unloading the Conti Glory.

HMAS Jervis Bay at the floating pontoon