A new permanent exhibition has opened at the Maritime Museum of Townsville – Rise of the Port City.

The exhibition showcases the Port’s contribution to the development of North Queensland through a series of interpretive panels detailing events by using a timeline approach.

There are also a series of virtual reality experiences that were developed especially for the exhibition that tell the story of how the Port operates.

The exhibition also has a large touch and play table, a ship simulator that allows users to navigate ships around the world, a live vessel tracker providing information about ships arriving at the port, videos and model ships, artefacts, and objects.

The MDO for North Queensland, Ewen McPhee, worked with the Museum and the Port of Townsville to plan, develop and install the new exhibition. The Seafarer Gallery was repainted by volunteers and the original exhibition was moved to other galleries and exhibition furniture put into storage.

The Maritime Museum has had record visitation last financial year and continues to break all records in the second half of 2021. The Museum has a strong link to local schools and the exhibition has been popular with both primary and secondary schools.