Vessel signals the start of the harbour economy - Business Sydney joins push for corporate support
The Australian National Maritime Museum has unveiled new discoveries about the vessel previously referred to as the Barangaroo Boat, including fresh evidence of its working life on Sydney's waterways, while announcing it will now be known as the Cockle Bay Boat.
The updated name follows consultation and reflects the Museum's commitment to historical accuracy and cultural sensitivity. The Museum is also partnering with Business Sydney to seek donor support for the conservation and public display of this nationally significant archaeological find.
The Museum today announced major new findings resulting from ongoing research into the early colonial vessel uncovered during excavations for Barangaroo Metro Station in 2018. Found on Gadigal Country on the shore of what was once known as Cockle Bay, the boat was transferred into the National Maritime Collection earlier this year and offers an increasingly detailed picture of the maritime economy that shaped early Sydney and colonial New South Wales.
The vessel became widely known as the Barangaroo Boat after the location where it was discovered. However, the Museum's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Committee expressed concern about naming a colonial vessel after Barangaroo, an important Aboriginal woman in Sydney's pre-contact and early colonial history, in the absence of any direct link between her life and the boat. The vessel will now be referred to as the Cockle Bay Boat, a name that draws on the early European name of the bay where it was found and is closely connected to place and the boat's known history.
Matt Poll, the Museum's Head of Indigenous Programs said, 'The new name geographically locates this vessel in its true historical place, allowing the museum to celebrate the technical achievements of early Australian shipbuilding without culturally misattributing the vessel to Barangaroo, a Cammeraygal woman to whom this colonial boat has no connection.'
The latest archaeological research suggests the boat had a long and demanding working life. Repairs visible in the surviving timbers indicate it was extensively used to transport goods around Sydney Harbour and along the Hawkesbury and Parramatta Rivers, with current historical investigations exploring whether it may have travelled as far afield as the Shoalhaven and Newcastle. Buried for around 150 years beneath tidal sediments, wharves and warehouses, it survived in extraordinary condition.
In-depth investigation of the surviving hull has also revealed the presence of large iron spikes that were used to fasten the boat's centreline timbers together. These fasteners had avoided prior detection because they were completely embedded within the timbers and covered in a layer of pitch and corrosion products. Their discovery has added an important new dimension to our understanding of how the Cockle Bay Boat was designed and built. It was also fortuitous, as iron reacts adversely with the polyethylene glycol used to preserve the timbers-a condition that has been noted with other significant archaeological ship and boat reconstruction projects, such as Mary Rose and Vasa.
The boat survives in 294 individual timber components, alongside associated artefacts including rope and leather. These materials have undergone extensive conservation treatment, including immersion in polyethylene glycol, freeze-drying and detailed digital recording. The Museum is now using 3D photogrammetry and modelling, as well as a 1:5 scale 3D-printed prototype, to guide reconstruction and deepen understanding of how the boat was designed, built, repaired and used.
Museum Director and CEO Ms Daryl Karp AM said the new discoveries were reshaping understanding of both the vessel and the city that grew around it.
'This is one of the most significant maritime archaeological finds in Australia, and every new discovery adds depth to the story,' Ms Karp said. 'The Cockle Bay Boat gives us a rare and direct link to the working harbour that built early Sydney. The change in name reflects careful consultation and recognises that, while Barangaroo remains central to the history of this place, this vessel is a colonial boat and should be named in a way that is historically grounded and culturally appropriate.'
The Museum is partnering with Business Sydney to build support for the next phase of the project, including reconstruction, interpretation and permanent display. The partnership will seek donors from across the business and philanthropic community who recognise the importance of preserving one of the earliest material links to Sydney's commercial and maritime beginnings.
Paul Nicolaou, Executive Director of Business Sydney, said the project spoke directly to the origins of Sydney as a trading city. 'The Cockle Bay Boat is a powerful symbol of the harbour economy that helped build modern Sydney,' Mr Nicolaou said. 'As Sydney Chamber of Commerce marks 200 years in 2026, we are proud to work with the Museum to invite donors and business leaders to help preserve and share this remarkable piece of our city's story.'
Currently, the Museum expects to open a permanent public display of the vessel and its associated artefacts in 2028, giving visitors the chance to experience one of the nation's most important maritime archaeological discoveries and the many stories still emerging from it.
