‘Water taxi’ built in Bay gets ready for service on high seas
IF you ever happen to be passing Port Elizabeth and need to stop off in town, you might just find yourself hitching a lift on the Syncro Too, the latest and potentially longest taxi in town.
At 13.5m long and weighing 15 tons, the newly built Syncro Too is, however, far more suited to the high seas than the highways and was described yesterday by its owners, John and Reecey Liverick, as a “water taxi”.
The purpose-built vessel, which essentially services ships bypassing Algoa Bay by delivering and fetching everything from people to supplies, was recently set afloat in the Port Elizabeth Harbour.
The vessel is yet to undergo sea trials, but it has already undertaken a short, successful run in harbour.
The Livericks, who have serviced passing ships on behalf of ship chandlers for the last seven years, said the boat was expected to be fully operational by the end of the month.
Designed by John Liverick and built by Hena Engineering in the Bay, the vessel is constructed largely from special marine-grade steel and aluminium, and took a year to build.
Besides a large cargo area, the boat can also transport 12 people, along with a minimum of two crew members.
“Hena did a fantastic job on the construction and we are very pleased with the boat,” Liverick said.
He broadly valued the vessel at “millions of rands”.
“Our first boat, which is smaller and getting old, is named Syncro and hence the name Syncro Too.”
Liverick, 66, said the market for their services was growing.
“The Syncro Too has a range of 40 nautical miles. We are on call 24/7, 365 days a year and this can be a tough job, especially when the weather is bad. But there is certainly lots of work and we are being kept very busy.”