New tug expected in two months

Press, 12 June 1986, Page 9

New tug expected in two months

The Lyttelton Harbour Board’s new $4.5 million tug Purau is expected to arrive at her new home port from Japan in about two months.

The tug was built at a shipyard in Nagasaki, Japan, and launched there on May 28. However, the Purau needs to be fitted out and have sea trials before she can sail to New Zealand. The Lyttelton Harbour Board’s chief engineer, Mr John Bushell, expects the Purau to arrive at Lyttelton in mid-August. * Mr Bushell sais that

the tug had two 1500 horsepower engines and was “highly manoeuvrable.” The tug is being fitted with piping, electrical equipment, and other machinery. Sea trials are expected to start, in the second week of July. The contract for building the tug was let to a Japanese firm, Kanematsu Gosho. Mr Bushel said that the Purau was built to a modern Australian design and Lyttelton Harbour Board specifications. A feature was her strong

winch. The Purau’s sister tug at Lyttelton will be the Godley which at present works at the port with the tug Canterbury. The Canterbury will not be needed when the Purau arrives and she has been put up for sale. Mr Bushell said that the board was open to offers for the Canterbury and that parties in New Zealand and overseas had already expressed some interest. The Canterbury was commissioned in 1971 and is a deep-sea and salvage tug.