Heron Ship Repair set 210ft barge, AMS Gladstone, up for a piling contract in December 2018 and completed in January. Containers for an office and a lunch room were installed, and crane sea-fastening for a 400T crane was fabricated and also installed. Pile gates were fixed to the side of the barge and an on-board power system was established.
The 70ft wide AMS Gladstone will be utilised as a crane barge during construction of the America’s Cup facilities for 2021.
The 23.95m multi-cat, Iona M, was brought out of the water recently for her intermediate survey. Ship Repair overhauled and serviced the generator, as well as overhauling the anchor and deck winches. The vessel was sandblasted, and hull and topsides were painted in the new owners’ colours.
While we had the Western Ranger up on the hard in mid-2018, we carried out a complete refurbishment of the purse winch, including the rebuilding and upgrade of the main winch drum, and upgrading the shaft. We rebuilt the bearing housing as well as fully sandblasting and recoating it. When the upgraded winch was sea-trialled, it netted 130 tonnes of fish between the ship and her new 8m skiff which we also constructed. The Western Ranger’s upgraded purse winch can be confidently operated for many more thousand tonnes of catch.
In time for the Western Ranger post-survey re-launch, we completed the construction of the vessel’s new 14.7 tonne 8 metre skiff.
The skiff was designed by Emtech Design in conjunction with Snow boats from Seattle. With a basic steel tonnage of 12.5 tons (14.7 tonnes complete), this heavy little craft’s main engine is a Cummins QSLD putting out 330 HP. Main bollard pull is 3.3 tons. The electric rope retrieval winch was designed and built by SRNZ. An Eaton Hydraulic steering system was installed by SRNZ and Engineering Pipes & Tubes.
The engine room includes a cooling system and fire dampener which is backed up by a Fire Pro fire extinguisher system. All electrical work and installation was carried out by Marine & Industrial Electrical.
Rudolph’s blasters and painters carried out all blasting and painting and the craft is painted in classic Sanford blue. Aft and working decks were finished with a Rhino coating system applied by Ron Kaye of Hang Tuff Ltd.
During the sea trial between the new skiff and the refurbished Western Ranger winch, 130 tonnes of Blue Mackerel were netted.
The Acheron III was up on the hard recently for a quick topsides paint touch-up and routine anti-fouling. We installed a new WASP sonar system and housing onto the 2009-built 24m tug before sending her back to the water and work.
Before
After
