Operations at Australia’s largest coal export facility, the Port of Newcastle, are set to resume on Monday after shipping was halted over the weekend following a climate-change protest.

The disruption came when the activist group Rising Tide, backed by supporters from Greenpeace Australia Pacific, sent scores of protesters in kayaks and small vessels into Newcastle Harbour’s shipping channel — a breach of the exclusion zone — on Sunday morning.

A general-cargo movement, including alumina destined for the Tomago aluminium smelter, was cancelled as a result.

A spokesperson for the port operator confirmed late on Sunday that “vessel operations will resume tomorrow as scheduled.” The protest, which organisers say involved hundreds of participants, was reportedly part of a campaign targeting coal exports and calling for the phase-out of fossil fuels.

According to Rising Tide, more than 100 people were arrested on Sunday alone.

Police, however, issued a statement earlier confirming only 21 arrests, charged under “marine-related offences.”

Greenpeace Australia Pacific said three of its activists boarded a coal ship to block its movement, describing the action as peaceful.

The broader demonstration follows similar multi-day protests at the same port last year, when roughly 170 people were arrested.

On Saturday, the day before Sunday’s larger action, a protest had already forced a coal ship to abort its entry into the port.

Police charged 11 demonstrators with marine safety violations following a kayak flotilla that breached the exclusion zone.

Coal remains among Australia’s key export commodities, alongside iron ore, even as the federal government maintains a commitment to reaching net-zero greenhouse-gas emissions by 2050. The weekend’s events underscore the persistent tension between Australia’s economic reliance on coal exports and growing domestic and global pressure over fossil-fuel driven climate change.