The only specialised marine publication in Oceania that focuses on the maritime industry, from super yachts to small craft to large commercial ships, including coastal shipping, tugs, tow boats, barges, ferries, tourist, sport-fishing craft
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IS A SERIOUS TUG BY KEITH INGRAM S ituated in the heart of the highly productive Hawke's Bay region, the port of Napier is conveniently located on the East Coast, close to the main New Zealand shipping lane, handling and moving cargo to and from the lower and central North Island. When one starts writing about almost any place on the New Zealand coast, it's not long before the historic figure of Captain James Cook steps into the picture. On October 14, 1769, his ship Endeavour stood off the Napier bluff after a run down the coast from Portland Island at the northern extremity of what is now Hawke Bay. While Napier was declared a Customs port of entry in 1855, the Napier Harbour Board wasn't established until the Napier Harbour Board Act was passed on October 21, 1875. This was followed by many acrimonious discussions for several years on the viability of moving the port from the Ahuriri Spit to its current location below Bluff Hill. Like all New Zealand ports, the Port of Napier Ltd was born out of port and waterfront legislative reforms in 1988-89. This vested the board's interests and the port's assets to the Hawke's Bay Regional Council, which owns all the shares in the Port of Napier Ltd. The port operates 24-7 and offers a full range of worldwide shipping services, including a number of weekly container services. It has all the essential facilities required to handle all forms of shipping and services over 600 vessels per year, including over 40 passenger vessels with 22,000 passengers. The container terminal handles 180,000teu containers, plus all types of cargo, with an emphasis on refrigerated products. Last year the port's non-containerised cargo included 900,000 tonnes of logs, wood chips, cement, oil products, bulk liquids, fertiliser, 20 Professional Skipper November/December 2011 forestry products, vehicles and foodstuffs totalling some 3.4 million tonnes. Designed for vessels up to about 200m overall length, the port has been innovative in increasing its ability to handle ever-larger ships, and now accepts vessels up to 294m long. The port has taken a modern approach to maintain the safety of ship handling and enhance the towage capability available to its pilots. This began in 2002 with the delivery of the Ahuriri, the first compact sub-24m Voith water tractor capable of over 70 tonnes of bollard pull. This has recently been augmented by the delivery of Te Mata, the most technologically advanced Voith water tractor in the world to date, says the Port of Napier's marine services manager, Paul Hines. "Voith water tractors are the port's preference in tugs, as azimuth stern-drive tugs hold unknown risks inherent in their design when performing manoeuvres such as indirect turns that are critical in ship handling to Napier," says Paul. "Tractor tugs with Z-drives also have difficulty performing indirect manoeuvres." Design and technology can improve these types of tugs, but port staff still perceive them as a risk, due to Napier's unique operational requirements in sea and swells where, unlike other New Zealand ports, the tug is required to hook on in open water. A high bollard pull is required to counter high wind loads on larger ships within the tight confines of the port, which is known for its keen prevailing nor'westerly wind, especially during the equinoxes. The tugs have to have sufficient power to push slab- sided ships up into the wind when berthing at some of the berths. For larger ships, the turn from the fairway entrance into the main basin may utilise indirect towing techniques because of