This is the Pacific National 'steel train' with loading from...

This is the Pacific National 'steel train' with loading from Whyalla, South Australia but is typically built up with containers. The steel is heavy so that partly explains the shorter length of only 53 wagons, with a pleasing 10 LAU containers being carried.

Some of the latter may be empty given there's normally a lot more freight carted to Perth than from it, but LAU doesn't load containers on trains (or send trucks out of depots) unless there's demand.

Despite relatively low fuel prices, rail still has a huge cost advantage over road on the east coast to Perth routes, so these containers are good little profit centres.

I haven't seen recent statistics but I gather coastal shipping - slow and unreliable, but cheap - has declined since COVID-19, so it's not the competitor to the other modes it was becoming. All these ships are foreign-flagged and have foreign crews: