A WORKBOAT designed and built in Hervey Bay has been selected by a Prime Contractor for the Department of Defence for inclusion in an underwater survey project.
BtB Marine announced this week that its two-time award winning Ultra Long Range 750ULR workboat ‘Project Indigo’ was being fitted with state-of-the-art hydrographic survey equipment and autonomous operations technology in preparation for service with a Prime Contractor for the Department of Defence’s HydroScheme Industry Partnership Program.
The program is a $150-million Government investment in Australia’s commercial hydrographic industry over the next five years.
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Seven companies will assist Defence in conducting surveys to ensure safe navigation for mariners.
BtB Marine, a specialist aluminium workboat builder operating out of Urangan, said it was exciting for a local, Hervey Bay-based company to be incorporating the latest hydrographic survey and unmanned vessel technology into their boats.
Indigo will soon be operating unmanned while surveying and 3D mapping the ocean floor around Australia.
BtB Marine general manager Chris Hough said the company was leading the way in next generation cost-effective commercial workboat designs in the Asia-Pacific region.
He said BtB Marine also embraced new diesel outboard technology to reduce emissions and improve efficiency and operation expenses.
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The 7.5m Ultra Long Range 750URL workboat series is a trailerable design powered by a 200Hp OXE Diesel Outboard, giving it a range of 600 nautical miles at wide-open throttle and requiring only 200-hour service periods.
“Our 750ULR vessel with the OXE Diesel Outboard is a boat that can deliver a wide range of work, patrol, survey and transfer operations cost-effectively, both with its initial cost and operating costs,” Mr Chris Hough explained.
“We believe environmental issues are more important than ever and feel that our vessels lend themselves to these many and varied roles particularly well.”
On the back of these contracts, BtB Marine is about to invest significantly in new workshop equipment to further streamline operations and allow their workforce to more than double – great news for the Hervey Bay region.
Production of more vessels in the 750ULR workboat series is currently underway in BtB Marine’s Hervey Bay workshop.
BtB Marine has been building award winning vessels for the commercial marine industry since 2008.
The company specialises in building craft up to 25m in length.