pacific tug news · moved up a couple of dolphins and prepared the barge bpl1 ready for towing. the...

1

Pacific Tug News October 2016

Issue 31 FOR A BETTER TOMORROW, THINK QUALITY, SAFETY AND SERVICE TODAY

Inside!

A Word From The CEO

1

Monto tows & PT supports Eden wharf repairs

2

Cookie & Welcome Gavin

3

Exclusive towage licences

4

Surveillance sys-tem trial

5

Brady Marine “Leanora Tow”

6

Flinders tow of Moreton to Eden

7

Employee spotlight & Message from Accounts

8

Commit to be fit! 9

Our Fleet 10

CEO Round Up

Whilst the Marine industry remains slower than we have become used to, Pacific Tug has been busy working on new opportunities and com-

pleting regular towage operations. Pacific Tug has assets deployed

across the eastern seaboard that have been strategically positioned to

capture towage works. Some of these tows are detailed below and make for interesting reading with some good pictures. Coupled with

the Harbour towage works Pacific Tug is maintaining a wide footprint

in the East and looks forward to expanding operations through new op-portunities. Our Harbour Towage operation, Wide Bay Shipping Ser-

vices continues to show great capacity to respond to client needs as

demonstrated recently when called upon to operate four tugs simultane-ously across two ports. Two of these needed to be mobilised on coastal

passages. Pacific Tug HR and our Harbour Towage Manager, Mick

Dunn’s team were able to respond to ensure that both ports were ser-

viced without delay.

Please enjoy the read below and we look forward to an update before

the New Year detailing new works and projects.

Chris Peters

CEO

Robert, Sam, Con & Chris Peters

PT Zarka, Moreton & Flinders

2

PT Monto tows – not so smooth sailing.

We left Melbourne with the barge AMS Gladstone in tow on 26 May and

arrived in Sydney early on the morning of 30 May. Upon arrival we

picked up the pilot and assist tug but had a bit of trouble locating the right

Dolphins to moor the barge in Snails Bay - the painted numbers are faded

and even the locals didn't seem sure. After a bit of tricky manoeuvring

we finally got to the right place. After securing the AMS Gladstone we

moved up a couple of dolphins and prepared the Barge BPL1 ready for

towing. The BPL1 is a sheer legs heavy lift barge with about a 600 ton

lifting capacity. After connecting we made a quick turn around and sailed

on the afternoon of the 30th. We departed Sydney Heads in daylight and

headed down the coast, the weather was great, gentle breeze and easy

small swell - useless surfing conditions for the experienced. All seemed

well until about 1am the next morning when the Chief Engineer, during a

quick visit to the bridge thought he saw sparks coming from high up on the sheer legs. After a few more moments of observa-

tion it was clear that there certainly were sparks, dispelling our discussion about it being carbon sparks from our exhausts. The

lifting block which is about the size of a car but 5 times heavier was loose and the multi sheave wires were clapping together

(causing the sparks). We started a gentle turn to try and ease the barge movement, which was very gentle in any case. The

block finally broke its fastenings and really started swing to about, belting the legs and causing quite a fireworks display, even-

tually swinging right around one leg and lodging there. We returned to Sydney to allow repairs and a different set up to prevent

further damage. On the second attempt the legs had been secured on deck, some of the lifting gear taken away for repair and

some for road transport. This attempt went well until reaching the SA border where a severe storm caused some angst; we

made Backstairs Passage avoiding the worst of it. The barge was delivered to the Adelaide Submarine Syncrolift without any

further drama and the PT Monto returned to Melbourne. A seemingly straightforward job that became a

bit tricky but all eventually turned out well, much thanks to Chris, Dave, Marksey, our office staff and

crew of PT Monto: Kirk Driscoll, Bryce Benson, Rob Roebuck, Rob White, Matt Thompson , Terry

Dally & Matt O’Sullivan.

Chris Benson

Master

2nd attempt PT Monto with BPL1

Pacific Tug supports wharf repairs in Eden

Pacific Tug is providing vessels and project support to Australasian Marine Con-

struction (AMC).

AMC was awarded a contract to repair the badly damaged woodchip loading facil-ity in Eden. The project is progressing well and full repairs are on track for comple-

tion by the end of the year. A significant storm called an “East Coast Low” caused

the damage earlier this year with parts of the wharf washed away by waves over 17m high. Pacific Tug’s contribution includes the fitout, sea fixing and mobilisation

of the barge Moreton, mobilisation to Eden with the tug Flinders Bay; and the mo-

bilisation of P.T. Mary and the towage of a Jack-Up-Barge by P.T. Kythira from Melbourne. A special thank you to our Engineering and Operations team and to our

subcontractor M&T Welding Services for the long hours and huge effort provided

to load and prepare the Moreton for departure to Eden.

David McGilvray

Business Development Manager

Moreton loaded for Eden

Moreton under tow by Flinders

Bay en route to Eden

3

To all in the industry he is known as Robby Cook; to his colleagues he is Boots or just plain Cookie.

He is a tug driver, a crane driver, a forklift driver, a fookie (our Japanese truck)

driver, if you want a driver of any sort even a screw driver go and see Cookie.

He organises the yard at Raptis, the workshop at Victoria Point and his knowledge

is invaluable.

Cookie is a man of many talents and is going through a tough time health wise at

the moment. We the Pacific Tug Family would like to wish him a speedy and full recovery.

Con Peters

Welcome!

Gavin Wolpert – Fleet Engineering Manager

I am very pleased to announce that Gavin joined the Pacific Tug team in late August this year after being awarded the position of Fleet Engineering Man-

ager.

Gavin has over 28 years of experience in the maritime industry including fleet

management roles supporting commercial and defence projects. His qualifica-

tions include a marine mechanical engineering trade; Engineer Class III and

Master Class V tickets and Diplomas in Marine Surveying, Project Manage-ment, Marine Engineering and Maritime Business. Gavin also has extensive experience in internal, exter-

nal & safety auditing and managing compliance with classification societies, state & national marine au-

thorities and international standards & conventions. In his role as Fleet Engineering Manager, Gavin is responsible for ensuring all legislative and class re-

quirements for the Pacific Tug fleet are met and maintained and for providing technical advice and engi-

neering support to the company vessels to ensure well maintained and safe equipment.

With responsibility for our maintenance yard and 20 fleet vessels, it’s a challenging role requiring a wealth of experience and knowledge and I feel confident Gavin has the skill and competence required to meet

those challenges.

Gavin relocated to Brisbane from Sydney bringing with him his wife Kym, 2 year old son Lochie and baby

Arnya born in July this year.

A am sure you will all join me in extending a warm welcome to Gavin and his family; I hope he enjoys a long and rewarding career with Pacific Tug.

Chris Peters

CEO

4

Exclusive towage Licences: Port of Townsville and Ports North

Port of Townsville and Ports North have submitted a joint application to the competition watchdog (ACCC) to issue

7-year exclusive licences for the ports of Townsville, Lucinda, Mourilyan and Cairns. They have proposed various

combinations of exclusive licences, including a 4-port super licence, bundling the towage of all 4 ports together. Our

preference is for fair, open competition. We believe this would better allow local companies to compete with the

massive European multinationals on an even playing field.

We have made submissions to the ACCC explaining that we believe the Ports’ proposal acts against Australian com-

panies like Pacific Tug and that the local communities and port customers would be worse off. There is no compel-

ling evidence to support exclusive licencing of low-volume, narrow customer-base ports such Cairns, Lucinda and

Mourilyan. Bundling all 4 ports together risks sacrificing cost-efficient and reliable service to the low volume ports

(Cairns, Lucinda and Mourilyan). The primary cus-

tomer of these smaller ports is Queensland Sugar

Limited. Queensland Sugar Limited, is a long-term

(since 1923) employer of local people and repre-

sents more than 4000 farmers, across the coastal

region of northern Queensland, where these ports

are located. We believe that long-term customers

like Queensland Sugar deserve a say in who they

want to provide their towage services. Our CEO,

Chris Peters was recently contacted by media out-

lets following this story and was quoted in media

saying, “Pacific Tug stands ready, willing and able

to provide cost-effective towage services in small

ports in Queensland. As our experience in Bunda-

berg has demonstrated, it’s possible to provide cost-effective towage services in a low throughput port for the benefit

of port users and, ultimately, the Queensland community.”

We have called on the ACCC and Queensland State Government to reconsider the application that has been made by

its government-owned corporations, effectively jeopardising

Queensland jobs.

Darryl Savage

Commercial Manager

Port of Lucinda, North Qld.

At 5.76km it’s the longest service jetty

in the southern hemisphere.

5

Surveillance System Trial

Surveillance cameras have been utilised for quite some time around our homes, our streets and work places. Vehicle

dash cams & CCTV have provided us with no end of entertainment - some funny, some unbelievable and some just

plain scary. While entertaining, surveillance cameras have in fact redefined the security, safety and protection of our homes, streets and workplaces providing footage and evidence in the event of an incident. The latest advances in secu-

rity cameras & surveillance systems have allowed us to consider utilising this technology on-board our vessels. Our

‘guinea pig’ for the trial is the recently purchased Flinders Bay. During her docking and commissioning, a surveillance and monitoring system was fitted in the wheelhouse.

This system consists of:

3 x 4mm turret cameras installed at each of the foreword windows of the wheelhouse to record a 180° view of

the bow and surrounding waters.

1 x 2.8mm dome camera and microphone installed above the wheel house controls recording all bridge con-trols reading and information.

1x high definition recorder with back up battery and 4G gateway A live feed and recorded footage can now be accessed from the Pacific Tug Brisbane office for monitoring and training

purposes and in the event of an incident or accident for the purpose of an investigation.

Below is the view from each of the 4 cameras when the vessel

was being made ready to tow the

Moreton to from Brisbane to Eden.

Clinton Goddard

Assistant Operations Manager

Bow shot whilst underway

6

BRADY MARINE “LEANORA TOW”

PT Monto towed Brady Marines 54 mtr crane barge “Leanora” to Port Macquarie in early August 2015 for work being

undertaken on the Pacific Highway upgrade. PT Kotor then returned to Port Macquarie in August 2016 to begin a two stage operation to deliver the “Leanora” to her next job in the

Coomera River. Stage one saw PT Kotor connect the tow to

“Leanora” in the upper reaches of the Hastings River and depart within a tight tidal window. The barge was towed back to the Pa-

cific Tug wharfs at Colmslie in favourable weather conditions with-

out any issue. On arrival at Colmslie, Brady Marine undertook

maintenance work on “Leanora” until mid-September, making her ready for her next project - construction works on the Gold Coast

Rail Bridge in the upper reaches on the Coomera River. Stage two

saw Pacific tug tow “Leanora” south through southern Moreton Bay to the upper Coomera River. Due to the shallow tight channels,

sand banks and high vessel traffic within the transit area, PT Nauti-

lus with her compact size & shallow draft was given the task as-sisted by Bay Lass. Day one saw PT Nautilus & Bay Lass tow

“Leanora” from Colmslie to Russell Island where all vessels went to anchor awaiting the next morning’s flood tide and

the boarding of a local marine pilot. Day two started before daylight with weighing anchor and the marine pilot board-

ing “Bay Lass” for the passage. After 6 hours navigating extremely close to beacons, shallow banks, some very expen-sive pleasure craft & not so expensive vessels, “Leanora” was positioned ready for Brady Marine to start operations

near the Coomera River rail bridge without incident. Brady Marine, Towing Surveyor Joe and the Marine Pilot all gave

excellent feedback with respect to both stages of this operation. Credit must go to Operations and Maintenance for planning & equipment preparation and all crew involved in this operation. “Nice Work”

Mick Dunn Harbour Towage Manager

PT Zarka & Leanora

Nautilus & Leanora

Laughter is strong medicine for the mind and body; here’s the proof! Laughter relaxes the whole body. A good hearty laugh relieves physical tension and stress, leaving your muscles re-

laxed for up to 45 minutes! (University of Maryland School of Medicine)

Laughter boosts the immune system. Laughter decreases stress hormones and increases immune cells and infection-fighting antibodies, thus improving your resistance to disease.

Laughter triggers the release of endorphins, the body’s natural feel-good chemicals. Endorphins promote an overall

sense of well-being and can even temporarily relieve pain. (New England Journal of Medicine)

Laughter protects the heart. Laughter improves the function of blood vessels and increases blood flow, which can help protect you against a heart attack and other cardiovascular problems.

7

Flinders tow of Moreton to Eden

We joined the Flinders Bay in our yard at Colmslie on Thursday morning (straight after the Heron end of project party, not a

good idea) and began preparations for the tow south to Eden. The Pacific Tug barge Moreton needed to be loaded with the

barge Peel, a crane, workboat and various other pieces of equipment & stores. After three long days we were ready to depart. The Pilot joined us 0700hrs Monday 15 August and we proceeded down river to where the Moreton was berthed. PT Zarka

towed the Moreton from her berth out to mid-stream and held her in position while we made the connection.

We then proceeded out across the bay. We cleared the NW Fairway later that afternoon and headed towards the boarding ground so the pilot could disembark. Once the pilot was clear we then headed south towards Eden. The weather for the first

24 hours was not the most comfortable, SE 25kts with a couple of meters of sea and swell. By Tuesday evening the weather

was a dream; we had increased speed and were covering a lot of distance over 24 hours. At one point we were sitting on 10 knots for most of the day. The weather stayed in our favour for the entire trip. We arrived in Eden late Thursday evening (18

Aug) and the PT Mary came out to assist us. We retrieved the tow and handed the Moreton over to PT Mary and she towed

the Moreton into Snug Cove. We were all fast at 2300 hrs. This would have to be the fastest tow I have ever done. We had an

average speed over 9 knots berth to berth. Wish they were all like that!!!

Steve Marks

Master

Moreton being secured to PT Zarka

(Clinton & Blackey)

PT Zarka taking the Moreton from her

berth.

Moreton connecting to Flinders Bay

Proof! GPS on-board

Flinders Bay

Scotty & Zeke with PT Nautilus

Blackey cleaning the Franna

Neil painting the Fortitude

8

Employee Spotlight – Scott Stevens AKA ‘The Wizard 'Fitter & Turner Extraordinaire!

Family (Partner/kids/pets):

Barbara (wife) Bonita (daughter) Jacqueline (daughter) Squishy (lizard)

How long have you worked for Pacific Tug? 2011 to current and my apprenticeship 1984 - 1989

What do you like about working for the company?

Every day is a different challenge. The company attracts good people. The ability to grow within my role.

What is the most challenging part of your job?

The computer side (Mex) of the position was quite daunting until I spent time doing it, now I have grasped it well.

What do you do for fun? What are your interests / hobbies?

Hiking, bike riding, camping, travelling (bike trek 2017), drinking beers

with family and friends.

What is the craziest thing you have ever done?

2008, I hiked the overland track (with my wife and youngest daughter) in

Tasmania in the middle of winter and got stuck in a blizzard for 3 days.

If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would it

be?

Machu Picchu in Peru.

What are 3 things you cannot live without?

Beers, pet Lizard and Barbs.

What were you doing the last time you really had a good laugh?

Watching a clip of Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton with Robert Peters on his mobile.

Scott in the engine room on PT Nautilus

Scott on the Overland Track, Tasmania

Scott inspecting the PT Nautilus

during her last docking

9

Commit to be fit!

Commit to be fit is back and in this series we’ll put together 8 exercises based on Pilate’s methodology that can be done anywhere, any-

time with very little room. These exercises provide a full body workout building strength, endurance & performance.

The first 4 exercises are below and the next 4 will be included in our December issue.

1. Arm Openings (for back)

· Lie on your side with both knees bent and arms extended in front of you at chest level.

· Lift your top arm and use it to draw an imaginary arc up and over your body. Allow your head and chest to rotate as you fol-

low the movement. You should feel a stretch in the front of your chest and down your lower back.

· Hold for a few seconds and return to start position – that’s one rep.

· Do 15 reps each side.

2. Clamshells (for glutes)

· Lie on your side with your knees bent and your spine in a neutral position. Your hips should be stacked vertically.

· Lift your top knee up as far as you can – control the movement without rotating your spine (keep your ankles together through-

out).

· Slowly lower your knee back down to return to the start position.

· Do 2 x 20 reps per side.

3. 4-Point Leg Extension (for glutes & core)

· Begin on all fours, with your hands directly under your hips.

· Gently engage your abdominals and extend your left leg straight out behind you without dropping your hips or twisting your

spine.

· Hold the position, then bend your extended let to bring it back to the start before repeating the movement.

· Continue lifting your leg for 15 reps, then repeat on the other side. · Do 2 x 15 reps each side with 30 seconds rest between sides.

4. 4-Point Knee Hovers (for core)

· Begin on all fours with your hands under your shoulders and your knees under your hips and your spine in a neutral position.

Tuck your toes under.

· Gently engage your core and set your shoulder blades, then press through your hands and toes and push up to hover your knees 10cm above the ground.

· Hold for a count of 5 as you breathe in and out.

· Slowly lower back to the start position and repeat.

· Do 10 reps.

10

Flinders Bay Type: ASD Harbour Tug

Length: 26.1 x 8.5 Meters

Bollard Pull: 41 Tonne

Fuel Capacity: 70,320 ltrs

Twofold Bay Type: Escort Tug

Length: 33 x 10.82 Meters


Fuel Capacity: 105,000 ltrs

Keppel Bay Type: Escort Tug

Length : 33 x 10.82 Meters

Bollard Pull : 57 Tonne

Fuel Capacity : 105,000 ltrs

King Bay Type: Harbour Tug

Length : 34.14 x 11.4 Meters

Bollard Pull : 54 Tonne (Cert)


Wide Bay Type: ASD Harbour Tug


Bollard Pull : 30 Tonne


Hervey Bay Type: ASD Harbour Tug




PT Fortitude Type: Twin Screw Tug


Bollard Pull : 41 Tonne(Cert)


PT Monto Type: Twin Screw Tug




PT Kythira Type: Twin Screw Tug

Length : 26.0 x 8 Meters

Bollard Pull : 25 Tonne (Est)


PT Kotor Type: Twin Screw Tug


Bollard Pull : 18.8Tonne

(Cert) Fuel Capacity : 88,000 ltrs

PT Mary Type: Twin Screw Tug




PT May Type: Twin Screw Tug




PT Zarka Type: Twin Screw Tug




PT Nautilus Type: Twin Screw/Tug Work


Bollard Pull : 7.3 Tonne


Selatan Type: Flag Ship—Single

Screw Monohull Motor

Cruiser

Length : 15.2 Meters Fuel Capacity : 22,700 ltrs

PT Transporter Type: Aluminium Sea Cat


Bollard Pull : NA


Bay Lass Type: Multi Config Catama-

ran


Bollard Pull : 3.5Tonne(Cert) Fuel Capacity : 2,000 ltrs

Stradbroke - Barge Type: Steel Flat Top Deck

Cargo Barge


Moreton—Barge Type: Steel Flat Top Deck

Cargo Barge


Peel— Barge Type: Steel Flat Top Pontoon

with Spud

Length : 18.00 x 7 Meters

pacific tug news · moved up a couple of dolphins and prepared the barge bpl1 ready for towing. the...

Documents