Animated night-style map of Port Phillip Bay and Melbourne's freeways over one day, 17 August 2026, with a clock. Purple vessel tracks run from Bass Strait through the Rip and up the bay to Swanson Dock; teal pulses show articulated trucks on the West Gate and Monash freeways, peaking late morning.
One ship, one day, and the trucks that meet it.
This is Port Phillip Bay on Monday 17 August. Every vessel movement from the month is overlaid on a single 24 hour clock, articulated trucks pulse on the freeways, and one ship is followed at its real timestamps: stopped outside the Heads at 01:49, pilot aboard off Point Lonsdale at 04:24, through the Rip at 05:04, alongside Swanson Dock East at 09:19.
By the time it berthed, the West Gate Bridge was already carrying about 650 articulated trucks an hour, on its way to a late morning peak of about 900. Not all of them are hauling boxes, but the port's road task moves inside that flow. Overnight it falls to about a sixth.
Ships, roads and the hours between them, from one source. That is what we build at Data Duality.
In the video
- 00:40 A container ship approaches from Bass Strait at 11 knots.
- 01:49 Stops 15 km outside the Heads and holds for 100 minutes.
- 03:29 Under way again towards the pilot boarding ground.
- 04:24 Pilot cutter comes alongside off Point Lonsdale.
- 05:04 Through the Rip, between Point Lonsdale and Point Nepean.
- 05:50 East along the South Channel, then north up the bay.
- 06:30 Articulated trucks are already rolling: about 650 an hour across the West Gate Bridge.
- 07:20 Northbound up the bay, slowing from 16 to 12 knots as it closes on Hobsons Bay.
- 08:04 Tugs join in Hobsons Bay for the Yarra approach.
- 09:19 Alongside Swanson Dock East, 7.5 hours after stopping at the Heads.
- 11:00 Late morning is the articulated truck peak: about 900 an hour over the West Gate.
- 16:00 Ships keep arriving through the afternoon; truck volumes ease to about 460 an hour.
- 19:00 By 19:00 the West Gate carries about a third of its late morning truck peak.
- 22:00 Overnight, trucks fall to about a sixth of the peak, but ships keep coming.
Source: Data Duality Transport Oracle. Map data: OpenStreetMap contributors.