Port Of Fremantle News

Western Australia’s Fremantle Ports has awarded a $7.6m contract to Geraldton boat and ship builders, Dongara Marine, to construct two new pilot boats to enhance its small boat fleet.The first pilot boat is scheduled for delivery in mid-2024 and the second later that yearFremantle Ports CEO Michael Parker said the new pilot vessels would be pivotal in the organization's continued delivery of an efficient and highly-reliable service to ship owners, shipping agents and customers.“At the core of our operations is the safe…

Western Australian boatbuilder Dongara Marine has delivered a second Berkeley Class pilot boat to the port of Fremantle. ‘Genesis’ will join ‘Berkeley’, which has been operating in the port since 2015.Whereas Berkeley is owned by Fremantle Pilots, the 19.4-meter new vessel has been acquired by Harbour Services Australia (HSA) as part of the company’s fleet of 18 workboats ranging from six-meter punts, mooring/lines boats to 21-meter cargo vessels, a crew transfer and dive/survey vessel…

Svitzer Australia has welcome two new vessels to its fleet in 2019, as two UZMAR-built RAstar 3200 series tugboats begin the journey from Turkey to their respective home ports.A delivery ceremony was hosted by UZMAR on 12 March 2019 for the two tugboats, Svitzer Ruby and Svitzer Redhead.The 85-tonne bollard pull tug, Svitzer Ruby, will join Port Kembla in May 2019, and the 80-tonne bollard pull tug, Svitzer Redhead, will join the team in Fremantle in late April 2019.The vessels were designed by the reputable Canadian naval architecture firm Robert Allan Ltd.The two escort towage capable vessels feature render recovery winches, FiFi1 class notation for firefighting…

The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) informed that crew members aboard a ship at a BHP terminal in Queensland are being neglected and underpaid."Crew aboard a ship at a BHP terminal in Queensland claim they are being starved and underpaid, in yet another instance of the coal giant’s veil of secrecy over its operations in Australian waters," said an ITF release.A seafarer aboard an 80,000-tonne bulk carrier, the Villa Deste, contacted ITF pleading for help. The starving crew claims to have no food and no onboard wages, and being fed on a $4 food budget per day.BHP is continuing to block ITF’s requests to inspect the vessel…

Australia's Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC) informs that the Chinese survey ship 'Zhu Kezhen' which is conducting the bathymetric survey – or mapping of the ocean floor – is enroute to the port of Fremantle. Zhu Kezhen suffered a defect to its multibeam echosounder and is coming into port to conduct the necessary repairs. The journey is expected to take a couple of days. As previously advised, an Australian contracted survey vessel will also be involved in conducting the bathymetric survey and will arrive in the search area in June. Source: JACC

An Aberdeen-based company is behind the first freefall lifeboat-training centre to open for business in Australia. Survival Craft Inspectorate Ltd (Survival Craft) has collaborated with Australia’s Industrial Foundation for Accident Prevention (IFAP) to establish the new facility in Fremantle, which was formally opened by Western Australia premier Colin Barnett. Also attending the celebrations on 15 October were Survival Craft managing director Angus Campbell, Company Secretary Catherine Campbell and global business development manager Derek Sinclair…

Adsteam Marine has kept the expansion plans of its would-be nemesis, Australian Maritime Services, at bay after renewing its "exclusive contract" to provide towage at the Port of Fremantle for another seven years, according to a Sydney Morning Herald report. The deal effectively blocks AMS' plans to operate in all of Australia's container ports. Now the question is how long the so-called Virgin Blue of the tugboat market, which is racking up millions of dollars of losses a year, can survive. The exit of AMS from Port Botany, Melbourne and Brisbane - where it controls around one-third of the tug jobs - should provide a big boost to Adsteam's share price. Source: Sydney Morning Herald