Hervey Bay-based boat builder BtB Marine recently delivered an 8.5m fast landing craft purpose-built for the All 4 Adventure television series.
The custom vessel will be featured on the Unleashed.tv mini-series ‘Barging Through: Karumba to Cooktown’.
The series follows Australian Adventure team Jase and Simon as they explore the top end of Australia in the vessel, pushing the boundaries of travel and visiting remote places that are unexplored and difficult to access.
NOW READ: Defence Prime chooses Hervey Bay workboat for survey project
The new landing craft has a beam of 2.95m and can carry a payload of 1.5 tonnes.
The vessel is sturdy enough to carry a side by side 2-seater Polaris General and a Nomad HS 3.7 high side tender on the roof and all the owners’ exploration and television production equipment in open water conditions.
The client chose to add sponsons and enclosed aft pods to further increase stability and buoyancy.
RISING STAR: Hervey Bay entrepreneur helping local businesses grow
Powered by twin Mercury Pro XS V8 200 hp outboards and with a V-bottom planning hull, the vessel delivers a top speed of 40+ knots and, with a 750-litre fuel tank capacity, has a range of 500km at cruising speed.
PHOTOS: Supplied
The landing craft V-bottom planning hull design has been proven to be particularly suited to many roles including dive operations, cargo transportation and passenger transfers.
ALSO READ: Book a free display table at Fraser Coast Business Expo
The cab arrangement on the vessel has been customised to ensure the vessel is fit for operating in extremely remote locations and still provide a degree of comfort for the crew, with kitchen, couch, maximised storage, shower, 200l freshwater storage, grey water collection tank, 2 x Dometic fridges and more.
The vessel is also fitted out with:
- A full suite of Raymarine GPS navigation, sounder, & radar equipment with dual screens and VHf Radio
- A Redarc charger and inverter system
- Sat phone
- Custom built tender roof top boat loader
- Bow door customised for remote load on / load off for all-terrain vehicles
- Front and rear Savwinch anchor winch systems
- Fully customised BtB Marine trailer with 32-inch ROH wheels
BtB Marine general manager Chris Hough said the company has always looked at better ways to build cost-effective vessels.
“Reliability and practicality are paramount issues for vessels working in remote areas and our vessels continually deliver minimal maintenance downtime for our clients,” Mr Hough said.
ALSO READ: Tenders called to build major Hervey Bay link road
“BtB Marine’s vessels have been performing remarkably for many years in many locations right around Australia and the throughout the Pacific Island Nations.
“It has been an absolute pleasure to collaborate with Jase Andrews on this very special project,” he said.
You can keep up to date with the adventures of the All 4 Adventure crew on Unleashed TV.
Meanwhile, BtB Marine’s innovation skills and boat building capability were recognised by the Australian Marine industry in 2020, with the company winning both The Australian Marine Industry Award for Innovation and also taking out the AusMarine award for the Best Multi-Purpose Workboat.