WHEN ONE'S WORLD COMES
CRASHING DOWN
BY KEITH INGRAM
Carol Linda looking spic and span
A forlorn lo
oking duck
ling arrive
s
When reviewing the state
of the industry during our
regular visits around the
yards, Henk Eilering CEO
of Whangarei firm Ship
orted
Repair New Zealand was reported
as making an apt comment when he
described the marine sector as "the
saw-tooth industry" – acute ups and
downs and very sharp edges.
S
everal Whangarei companies have been bloodied on the
sharp edges, and none more so than the ShipCo yard
during their recent demise. The other major players are
keeping heads above water by diversifying ship repair
work, picking up international repair contracts and focussing on
core business ethos.
For the Ship Repair New Zealand yard, three Sealink vehicular
ferries used in the Hauraki Gulf are completing surveys and
dockings, a tuna boat mast and a mini-cruiser from Australia
have all kept the yard ticking over.
One of the major boosts was securing the contract to build
28
Professional Skipper September/October 2013
the new 44m vehicular and passenger ferry for Sealink an
Sealink,
Auckland-based ferry operator, in part of what was the Tenix
shed at Port Nikau.
It's the biggest ever new build the company has undertaken
and probably the largest for any ship builder in New Zealand for
many a year.
But it's the recent refit of the 1980 built 1,975 tonne Pacific
tuna purse seiner Carol Linda that is an example of how well
Kiwi ship repair yards are placed to respond to the challenging
demands of major ship repairs especially when things have gone
drastically wrong.
It was in May of 2012, while fishing for tuna northwest of
Samoa, that the mast of the Carol Linda folded and then both
mast and boom came crashing down while hauling nets. Sadly,
one fisherman, a Filipino national, was killed and another
injured. Once gear was recovered, the vessel returned to the
Port of Pago Pago to clear the decks, unload and await safety
investigations before seeking repairs.
It was at this point that Peter Ducrot, project manager for Ship
Repair New Zealand Ltd, an experienced professional in large
www.skipper.co.nz
