Taylor Bros constructing two aluminium heavy-lift barges for Australia’s RSV Nuyina

Hobart ship-building company Taylor Bros is currently constructing two 16.3 metre-long and 6.2 metre-wide aluminium ‘heavy-lift’ barges for Australia’s Antartic flagship RSV Nuyina. These two barges and a fleet of small watercraft will reportedly support RSV Nuyina when the icebreaker voyages south. RSV Nuyina is currently being constructed in Romania at the Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding yard and is due to arrive in Hobart in 2020.

Antartic Modernisation Brach Manager Rob Bryson said the two barges, which will travel at eight knots in calm seas with 448 kilowatt, will transport up to 45 tonnes of cargo each, in ship-to-shore operations.

 “The barges will be our primary link between the ship and shore as we don’t have wharves or jetties in Antarctica,” Mr. Bryson said while adding, “We’ll be able to ride them up onto the beaches and discharge cargo or drive our trucks straight on to the shore.”

As an added complexity, the barges will need to operate in temperatures as low as -30°C and up to 45°C.

Shipbuilder Phil Taylor and his team at Taylor Bros have 83 years of experience building and outfitting complex vessels including naval patrol vessels and warfare destroyers, oiler ships, yachts, and other Antarctic barges.