Oil spill recovery barge HM5outboard

In the aftermath of the oil spill which resulted from the grounding of the container ship Rena on the Astrolabe Reef in New Zealand’s Bay of Plenty, Auckland Council identified the need to improve Auckland’s own readiness to respond to a similar incident and set about to acquire a new vessel for this purpose.

Early in the process it was identified that oil spills are (thankfully) rare events and that it made sense to build a vessel which could perform other tasks in support of operating and maintaining our busy harbour. Auckland Council put out a request for proposal to design and build a vessel with multiple requirements: to be capable of servicing the entire Auckland Inshore Limits in a range of weather conditions; to carry and deploy specialist oil recovery and dispersal equipment; to recover debris from the water or to tow stricken vessels away from danger; to carry vehicles to Hauraki Gulf islands; to support Police dive teams; to maintain harbour and Hauraki Gulf infrastructure; to be transported by road to Manukau Harbour and other regional locations.