South Port gets $9.4m tug boat

A tug boat costing South Port $9.4 million will be heading to Southland shores later this year.

South Port has contracted European-based Damen to deliver an Azimuth Tractor Drive Tug to operate at the port in Bluff.

South Port chairman Rex Chapman said: ‘‘This is the single largest capital expenditure decision the company has made since it was established in 1989’’.

The port currently operates two tugs with a combined bollard pull (BP) of 75 tonnes.

The new tug will increase the port’s total capacity to 105 tonnes BP, which will provide greater safety margins for the larger vessels that are calling at the port. The new 65-tonne BP tug has been built and will replace the lower capacity Hauroko (35 tonnes BP), which has been operating at the port since April 2000.

Hauroko will be sold once the new tug arrives in 28 weeks.

Chapman said all shipping movements, except for smaller vessels, were piloted into berth with the help of tugs.

The port company had undertaken extensive consultation and completed several environmental assessments in preparation for an application for a resource consent for a channel improvement project.

It plans to remove the high spots within the channel to achieve a deeper draft to provide for a safer transit through the channel and increase the efficiency of loading vessels.

Last month, South Port recorded a profit of $6.1m in the first half of the financial year, a 33 per cent lift and up from $4.6m at the same time last year.