Torres Strait

Torres Strait is the passage linking the Coral Sea (part of the Pacific Ocean) and the Arafura Sea, leading ultimately to the Indian Ocean. It lies between the southern coast of Papua New Guinea and Cape York, Queensland at the far northern point of Australia.

It is a difficult waterway to navigate, being a maze of shoals, reefs and numerous islands, the largest of which is the administrative centre for the area, Thursday Island. The area is part of the Commonwealth of Australia, with the Melanesian native inhabitants Australian citizens. Despite navigational difficulties Torres Strait is the preferred route between the high export ports along Australia’s east coast and Java and India, saving some 2,400 to 3,200 km (1,500 to 2,000 miles).

Indonesian and Chinese fishermen had known the area for centuries but the first European to traverse the strait was Luis Vaez de Torres in 1606, sailing east to west while surveying the south coast of the island of New Guinea. He did not sight the Australian mainland so was unaware he had passed between two large landmasses. The Dutch came towards the area from the west – first Willem Jansz, only months after Torres, then Abel Tasman in 1644, both sailed along the south coast of New Guinea crossed the western entrance to the strait and explored northern Australia without actually entering the passage. It was left to the inestimable James Cook (with the aid of Torres’ charts) to successfully negotiate the strait. It was in the strait, on Possession Island on 22 August 1770 that Cook raised the British flag claiming the whole east coast of Australia for Britain as New South Wales.

In 1782, William Bligh sailed the Bounty’s longboat through the strait. In 1802 Matthew Flinders made a survey of the area and the strait became part of the preferred route for East India Company ships between the east coast of Australia and the East Indies..

The present border between Australia and Papua New Guinea was agreed to and came into effect in 1978

Reference: "The Oxford Encyclopedia of Maritime History"