LITTLE TUGGER PT MAY IS A TOUGH BY KEITH INGRAM
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Skipper Lance Brown at the helm during sea trials
6 Professional Skipper September/October 2011
little tug with serious attitude just about sums up the latest workboat to be built and delivered from the ShipCo yard in Whangarei. Even in the most challenging of times, this Northland shipyard can still come up trumps in the New Zealand black boat shipbuilding industry.
Shipbuilding is a tough industry at the best of times, and ShipCo has been one of the few to survive by continuing to build steel tugs, small ships and large barges, while recognising the importance of retaining the skills the yard has managed to amass. Yet its future would probably have faltered if it were not for the dogged commitment of its principal directors, Pat Ganley and Kelvin Hardie, who refused to lie down, even in the face of financial gloom. Both men are not getting any younger, so the challenge for the black boat industry and the Whangarei marine precinct will be how best to keep the momentum these two have
