Rivergate Marina & Shipyard

About the marina

Rivergate Marina & Shipyard is Australia's benchmark superyacht service destination, a family-owned facility opened in 2006 on the Brisbane River at Murarrie, in the city's TradeCoast industrial precinct. It sits three nautical miles from the Brisbane CBD and six from the river mouth, in deep, all-tide water alongside the port shipping channel, and it was conceived from the start for big vessels: 105 deep-water berths take yachts to 80 metres and beyond, with the basin designed for superyachts to 90 metres. Rivergate is also the official customs and quarantine clearance dock for South East Queensland, so foreign-flagged yachts can make Brisbane their first port of entry and clear Australian Border Force and biosecurity formalities at the berth. More than 30 major superyachts pass through each year, many timing a Brisbane stop between Sydney and Cairns or arriving from the South Pacific, five days' steaming away. The operation has collected unusual recognition for an Australian yard: international crew and owner surveys have repeatedly ranked it among the top three refit destinations in the world, and it has won the AIMEX Superyacht Australia award for service provider multiple times. Around the marina sits a genuine working shipyard with a 12,000-square-metre hardstand, two travelifts and an enclosed refit shed, supported by hundreds of approved contractors, which means a yacht can arrive for a week's provisioning and stay for a six-month refit without leaving the river. The founding family remains hands-on, and that continuity of ownership shows in the yard's repeat business, with captains routing return refits through Brisbane on successive Pacific seasons.

Berthing & shoreside services

Berthing at Rivergate is deep-water, all-tide and forklift-accessible, with shore power available up to 400 amps for superyacht berths alongside standard single and three-phase supply, fresh water and wifi. The fuel wharf operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week with high-speed bunkering of diesel, unleaded and premium unleaded, and black-water pump-out is available at berth. A dockmaster and concierge handle provisioning, accommodation, transport and entertainment logistics, crew have an air-conditioned lounge and kitchen, and marina amenities include showers and laundry; the whole gated complex runs 24-hour security with CCTV, electronic gates and night patrols, and the marina is Clean Marina certified. The shipyard is the serious machinery: a 75-tonne travelift with an 8.3-metre beam and a 300-tonne travelift with a 10.8-metre beam serve the 12,000-square-metre hardstand and an enclosed 55-metre all-weather refit shed, with high-pressure washdown at lift-out. For vessels beyond 300 tonnes, lift capacity of 600 and 2,500 tonnes is available elsewhere in the immediate precinct by arrangement. Roughly 320 approved contractors covering more than 20 specialist trades work on site or on call, including superyacht painters and finishers, marine electricians and electronics engineers, diesel engine specialists, generator and power-control technicians, fine timber and cabinetmaking shops, composite repairers, underwater lighting installers and marine trimmers. A dedicated in-house project management team scopes, schedules and supervises refits, and customs and quarantine clearance is arranged on request at the marina's first-port-of-entry dock. Casual and permanent berthing both run through the marina office, and the berthing mix spans production cruisers in the 12 to 18 metre range through to 80-metre-plus superyachts on the outer arms.

Local context in YouSail

This is directory context, not navigation advice. Check current charts, notices and official boating resources before passage.

The approach to Rivergate is up the Brisbane River's maintained shipping channel, deep and well lit, past the Gateway Bridges; the only real watch-keeping issue is traffic, with container ships, tugs and the CityCat fleet sharing the water, and a tidal range around two metres. Positioned 27 degrees 26 minutes south, Brisbane sits below the cyclone belt, which makes Rivergate insurance-friendly for summer layups, and the subtropical climate allows year-round exterior work. Moreton Bay and its marine park begin at the river mouth, giving crewed yachts weekend cruising to Peel Island, Tangalooma and the southern bay anchorages between refit milestones, and the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast are comfortable coastal hops. The marina markets its steaming distances hard: three days from Sydney, four from the Whitsundays and reef, five from the South Pacific islands. Ashore, the TradeCoast location is practical rather than pretty, but Brisbane's domestic and international airports are only minutes away, with private jet facilities and helipads nearby, and Eat Street Northshore, Portside and the city dining scene are within a short drive or ferry ride. Provisioning at superyacht scale is straightforward through local suppliers who know the yard, and the marina's own contractor directory extends to city services from florists to fine dining. For visiting crews on long refits, the combination of secure living aboard, a crew lounge and a real city on the doorstep is the yard's quiet advantage over remote hardstands. Many long-term berth holders treat the marina as a Brisbane base in its own right, commuting to the city by river ferry or road while their boats sit in secure, serviced water.