Jetwave Stanley Point is a quintessential Southerly Designs/Dongara Marine collaboration. This Yanmar-powered, HamiltonJet-propelled workboat is the first of three for fast growing owner Jetwave Marine Services of Port Hedland in the heart of Australia's Pilbara iron ore province.
The boats show all the attributes of their creators: elegance, utility, simplicity ruggedness and, very importantly, economy. They do exactly what they were designed to do with a minimum of fuss.
At only 8.5 metres in length, Jetwave Stanley Point is a big vessel for her length, with a wide beam and high bulwarks offering exceptional stability and personnel protection.
More than a pure lines boat the Stanley point is configured as a multi-purpose vessel able to perform, crew transfers, light cargo carriage, and other general work functions. The punt-style hull form provides increased deck space, cargo loading capacity, and high stability.
"Southerly Designs' track record and responsiveness to client requirements sets us apart," Andrew Taylor, Managing Director of Southerly Designs told Ausmarine. "Prior to this newbuild opportunity, Southerly has performed various works for Jetwave Marine in relation to their existing vessel fleet."
2019 was good for Southerly Designs. The company saw the launch of four vessel locally, across different sectors, lobster fishing/multi-purpose vessel Poppa G; Jetwave Stanley Point; the pilot boat Genesis; and the new South Perth Ferry Tricia.
Additionally Southerly secured multiple overseas contracts with six vessels currently under construction at three different shipyards.
"The local sector also continues to provide us with a significant amount of work," added Andrew Taylor. "Aside from a steady stream of stability book and modification work, we currently have three vessels under construction in WA – a 21-metre cray fishing vessel, along similar lines to the recent run of larger twin screw vessels over the last five years; another 8.5-metre line handling vessel; and a 16-metre shallow-draught Abrolhos Islands waterjet cray boat – this vessel will be the largest purpose built Abrolhos jet boat to date – and the first in a decade – and will feature a new and innovative hull form.
"Looking forward over the next 12 months things are looking reasonably positive over the short to medium term we are seeing a renewal of activity is South East Asia oil and gas which should be a positive for our line of crewboats. The maritime security, search and rescue, and pilot boat sectors continue to be active both in Australia and internationally, while our consulting and support service will continue to see demand locally."
2019 was also a very good year for Dongara Marine, which launched the four new vessels described above. On top of this, the company performed major refits to the 12-metre utility vessel Optimus 1000; 19-metre lobster boat Centurion; and the Jetwave vessels Asari and Madison, and were involved with the fitout and paintwork for the 22-metre lobster boat Eagle Point.
2019 saw Dongara Marine carry out work for companies that span from Port Hedland in the north to Fremantle in the South. Going forward into 2020, the company has work to keep it busy until the end of May, and feels quite optimistic that it can secure further newbuilds to give work out into 2021.
"While it is very hard to predict where any industry is going to head into the future, we are beginning to investigate electric powered line boats," said Dongara Marine's MD Rohan Warr.
"We believe that this may be a possibility and also to have dockside cordless charging stations. With the emphasis on climate change and reducing carbon footprints and lowering our dependence on fossil fuels we can only see hybrid and electric systems becoming more prevalent. Whatever the future holds no one knows, all we can keep doing is working hard with our clients to provide the best possible boats and solutions for their needs."