VESSEL REVIEW | The Ox – Six-metre work punt for Australian shipyard

This compact workboat named The Ox was designed and built for the builder's own use in order to assist with movements of vessels around its busy shipyard at Harwood located in the Port of Yamba, Australia.

Harwood Marine needed a small, multi-purpose vessel that could be put in and out of the water easily when needed, and required minimal crew to operate the vessel for a variety of uses.

There were several critical functions identified that needed to be in this one handy vessel.

These included line handling on vessels to be docked, transporting crew on and off vessels safely, and assisting to move vessels being docked into position as a small pusher vessel, rather than having to have a much larger and more expensive pusher tug to maintain and man.

Harwood Marine also needed a vessel that it could use as a work platform if required, capable of having some deck cargo and area to work with this cargo.

Finally, the vessel had to be easy to manoeuvre into tight spaces, and quick to react.

The design had to be multi-purpose. Harwood Marine needed several functions to be carried out, but only wanted to have the one vessel to do the job rather than multiple pieces of plant and machinery to maintain and insure.

The vessel had to be cost effective to build, maintain and operate, and the builder told Baird Maritime it has been. Harwood Marine said several companies involved in marine construction projects have loved the design, and expressed interest in adding one to their own operations.

Twin outboard motors were the choice of propulsion. Two 50hp (38kW) Mercury petrol outboards provide 22 knots of cruising power, enabling The Ox to move to various locations quickly and easily.The combined motors provide ample pushing power for the vessel's requirements.

The vessel is fitted with basic but quality equipment to local NSCV 2D requirements. This includes a VHF radio, compass and engine alarms.

The deck area makes this vessel ideal for small workboat requirements, with a big 900 kilograms of capacity to be able to load and move heavy fenders from vessel to vessel as required.

Having a rear console and ample deck space, using the vessel as a work platform is just another handy addition to the layout. The deck space also makes it safely accessible and user friendly to utilise as a line handling vessel.