Steber launches biggest vessel in its 73-year history
Taree shipyard’s 18m research vessel hits the water for the first time ahead of its December delivery dateSteber International has made company history after launching the biggest vessel ever built at the Taree factory.
The shipyard yesterday transported the 35.5-tonne, 18-metre Investigator II, a fisheries research vessel built for the Mauritius government to the Manning River where it was lifted by crane onto the water.
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The fibreglass vessel has been under construction for almost two years, and is expected to leave Port Botany for Mauritius in late December. It is the third vessel the company has supplied to the Mauritian government.
The boat is the first of a new generation of Steber models built off the New Westcoaster cray boat moulds acquired by the company in the 2000s. The New Westcoaster range gives Steber the potential to build boats ranging from 22 feet right up to the 72.
Steber has upgraded the Westcoaster design to meet the new National Standards for Commercial Vessels.
The fisheries research vessel has a 5.4-metre beam and is powered by a single 500hp Yanmar diesel that produces a top speed of 13 knots.
Features include large fuel and water tanks to allow the vessel to spend up to 30 days at sea, a fully enclosed flybridge with window assemblies that was installed the day before the launch, davits, booms, cockpit canopies, longline winch and branch line coilers, a fully insulated fish room and ice maker, an air-conditioned science laboratory with independent freezers, and a classroom for training students and upgrading the skills of existing commercial fishermen.
In the last few years Steber has won a number of new contracts to supply vessels, including 38-foot boats for the Navy and Victorian search and rescue services.
It is also playing a key part in developing autonomous watercraft that can stay out at sea for months at a time.
Last year the 73-year-old ship-building company delivered a 52-foot resort vessel to the Seychelles.
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