Germein Bay is located in South Australia at the northern end of Spencer Gulf on the gulf's east coast to the immediate north of the city of Port Pirie. It lies between the headland of Point Jarrold at its southern extremity and Ward Spit, a shoal exposed at low tide, which extends west from Ward Point on the mainland at its northern extremity. The bay's south coastline consists of “thick mangroves with partially-flooded land behind; it is bordered by drying sand and mud flats, which dry for a distance of.” The mangroves extend along the east side of the bay up to the southern side of a feature known both as Weeroona Island and as Mount Ferguson. The western side of Weeroona Island and the remainder of the coastline of the bay are “free of mangroves and dominated by low energy beaches fronted by wide sand flats.” The bay's coastline includes the following settlements - the city of Port Pirie on the west and south sides of the estuary of the Port Pirie River, Weeroona Island on Weeroona Island in the south-east corner of the bay and Port Germein in the north-east corner of the bay. The bay is described in an American source as being “fouled by numerous shoals, banks, and shallow depths.” The middle of the bay is occupied by a shoal called Cockle Spit which is exposed at low tide. Water depths within the bay are less than with exception to the part of the bay between Cockle Spit and Ward Spit in the bay's northern side where depths are greater than with a charted maximum depth of.
A portion of the bay and some waters to its immediate west have been declared under the Harbors and Navigation Regulations 2009 both as a 'harbor' and as a port known respectively as the 'Harbor of Port Pirie' and as 'Port Pirie'. The 'harbor' is enclosed by a line from Ward Point in the northeast to a point located in Spencer Gulf to the west about north-west of Mount Ferguson and then to a point in the south on the south coast of the bay immediately west of Port Pirie. The port consists of part of the Port Pirie River, the channel extending north to the Port Germein jetty and the channel extending west from the jetty to the middle of Spencer Gulf and the western limit of the harbor.
Ships need to pass through the bay in order to reach to the port facility at Port Pirie. This is achieved by entering the bay on its northern side where the water is the deepest. This passage is known as the ‘northern channel’. At a point between Cockle Spit and the jetty at Port Germein, a dredged channel needs be entered in order to proceed in a southerly direction to the estuary of the Port Pirie River where berths are located. This channel is known as the ‘Port Pirie shipping channel’.
Port infrastructure
Port infrastructure within the bay consists of a port facility, a range of navigation aids, a jetty and a number of boat ramps. The port facility which is located in the Port Pirie River consists of eight berths catering both for ships up to in length and the bulk loading of materials such as acid, grain and ores such as lead and coal. The facility is managed by Flinders Ports. Navigation aids located within the bay consist of lit beacons along the alignment of both the northern channel and the Port Pirie shipping channel, flashing lights on both the Port Germein jetty and the south side of Weeroona Island and a number of buoys and other markers in the southern side of the bay to identify specific navigation hazards. A jetty is located at Port Germein which was originally constructed in 1881 for use as a wharf for loading ships and which is now used for recreational activities such as fishing. Boat ramps are located in the Port Pirie River in the suburbs of Solomontown and Port Pirie, on Weeroona Island and at Port Germein.
