About
Explore Melbourne’s rich maritime history
Opened in 2011, the museum has built up a significant collection of material largely through donations from the Port of Melbourne Corporation, the National Trust and many individuals.
The collection continues to expand with new and improved displays being developed to tell many of the amazing stories surrounding Seaworks, Williamstown Dockyards and the Port of Melbourne.
It is staffed by a number of volunteers.
Exhibitions in the Maritime Museum include the First Fleet, prison hulks, Melbourne Harbour Trust and the Colonial Navy. The museum also includes an extensive library of maritime books and a collection of ship photographs.
The Maritime Museum welcomes visits by school and community groups.Beyond the museum, Seaworks’ heritage extends across the whole site. Four heritage-listed sheds — recycled in 1922 from a nineteenth-century Melbourne cargo shed, Workshops Pier, the Gellibrand Pile Light and the former Williamstown Morgue (1859, Victoria’s first permanent morgue) stand alongside the newly arrived heritage fleet: Alma Doepel, Enterprize and Steam Tug Wattle, now permanent tenants.
Together, these buildings, vessels and the museum form a living record of Melbourne’s maritime industry.
