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Toll’s Award-Winning New Ships
The largest general cargo ships to fly the
Australian flag are now in service across Bass
Strait between Melbourne and Burnie, and
picking up industry awards in Europe.
The 210m ships were commissioned by
Toll and built at the CSC Jinling Shipyard in
China. They increase Toll’s Bass Strait cargo
capacity by more than 40 per cent on each
voyage to meet anticipated demand for the
next two decades.
The 700 TEU ships have the capacity to
carry trailers, containers and refrigerated
goods with 3,500 lane-metres for vehicles
and 260 reefer points on power at any time.
The ships have three decks, a car tween deck,
wide fixed ramps to upper and cellar decks,
and enhanced technology for environmental
management, ship navigation and crew safety.
The new ships are also faster, with a
scheduled crossing time of 13 hours being
one hour faster than the ships they replace.
In total, Toll invested $311-million in
improving the Bass Strait trade link, including
$35-million to upgrade wharf facilities at Burnie.
The ships were officially named in February:
Tasmanian Achiever II in Burnie, and its
identical sister Victorian Reliance II
in Melbourne.
The design of the ships was announced
as the winner of the 2018 Shippax RoRo
Technology award in March 2019. The award
was presented to the ships’ naval architects,
Sea Highways Ltd, and Naos Ship and
Boat Design.
The award recognised the ships as the
largest Ro-Ros ever used for domestic trade
outside of Europe and the United States and
having the largest reefer capacity of any
short-sea Ro-Ro vessel.
The award specifically highlighted the
following technical innovations:
New Ro-Ro deck water mist firefighting
solutions. Nozzles are positioned to reflectthe real cargo stowage pattern rather
than the minimum nozzle spacing and
supplementary nozzles are located at a low
level along the deck sides to reach vulnerable
areas underneath trailers.
The solution adopted to incorporate
9-cylinder two-stroke engines, avoiding the
need for large casings on the main deck and
giving obstruction free access to the Ro-Ro
decks via wide, fixed ramps.
Permanent magnet shaft generators that
provide economic power over a wide range of
engine rpm.
Hybrid in-line scrubbers that use
magnesium oxide rather than caustic soda for
enhanced crew safety.Tug Upgrade for Geraldton
Svitzer Australia will bring three brand new tugs to
the Western Australian port of Geraldton as part of a
non-exclusive license for towage services with Mid West
Ports which commenced at the start of the year.
Svitzer plans to invest in three new 70-tonne bollard
pull tug boats for the operation. They will be designedby Canadian-based naval architecture firm Robert Allan
Limited and are to be delivered in 2020.
Svitzer Australia Managing Director, Nicolaj Noes,
said Svitzer is delighted to be able to continue to
support Mid West Ports.
“Svitzer and its predecessors have been in operationin Geraldton for more than 30 years and we’re delighted
to be able to continue to support Mid West Ports, our
joint customers and secure the ongoing employment of
more than 20 Geraldton locals,” Noes said.
The new license is for a period of five years, with
further options.WA LOBSTER FISHERS TO CROSS THE DITCH
Western Rock Lobster has awarded ten $3,000
bursaries to attend the 2019 Trans-Tasman
Rock Lobster Congress in Queenstown,
New Zealand.
The bursaries provide professional
development for future leaders of the Western
Rock Lobster Industry and target skippers and
crew members who are actively engaged in
fishing operations.
CEO Matt Taylor said he was encouraged
by the many strong, diverse and passionate
applications received and commended allapplicants on their desire to further build
their capacity, knowledge and networks within
the industry.
“The bursary applications illustrate our
young fishers’ strong industry ambitions, drive
and commitment so we are excited to be able
to assist them with capacity building and
professional development to help deliver benefits
and security to both them personally and our
industry in to the future,” he said.
Hosted by CRA8 Rock Lobster Industry
Association in Queenstown, New Zealand,
from August 11 to 13 the Conference seeks to
continue and build on the interest, momentum
and collaboration that has been evident at
past Trans-Tasman conferences, including the
successful 2017 Hobart event. The theme for the
2019 conference is: “Supporting Success”.
The bursaries have been funded by WRL
through its Industry Partnership Agreement
with the Fisheries Research and Development
Corporation (FRDC).