Never a dull moment in towing game
Lance and Virginia Brown have just taken over the family business Auckland-based towing company Thomson Towboats. Lance Brown says there will be no major changes to the company’s services although they will be focusing on broadening the company’s scope of work. “We have primarily been working in Auckland Harbour but we will now be looking further afield in order to expand the company,” he says.
Thomson Towboats was established in 1988 by Virginia’s father Jim and her brother Mike. The company was started with just one boat providing harbour towage and workboat services within the Auckland area. Demand has resulted in the company’s fleet numbers and types of vessels changing since the company was formed.
Brown says that this will continue as types of work and demand changes - including modification, alteration and improvement of equipment to suit the task. The company offers a wide variety of services including towage, salvage, wreck removal, project cargoes, barge hire, pilot and crew transfer, stores and fuel delivery to boats and dredge support. It has no fixed contracts and is available 24/7 for emergency services.
“Over the years the work has changed and a lot of the everyday work the company was built up on is not there anymore,” says Brown. “This means that we have to keep chasing work. Basically anything that floats we will tow it.”
Work is extremely varied from towing over dimension loads that some cargo ships find difficult or moving a house by water to supplying barges for the Rugby World Cup fireworks display and towing hopper barges to remove spoil as dredges complete their job. The company also offers a marine consultancy service covering areas such as tug, barge and workboat design, marine engineering and systems design, methodology and project management.
Thomson Towboats has completed consultancy work for Shipco in Whangarei. The company also takes on large contracts. Last year it completed a job for Pacific Terminals, transporting 11 tanks by barge to Napier, Tauranga and New Plymouth.
“We had never done anything like this before. Ensuring the tanks were secured properly and establishing sound stability calculations was vital. It was a lot of management to ensure everything was compliant and the job ran smoothly.” Thomson Towboats also launches and moves super yachts, sometimes transporting them on a pontoon away from the shallower harbour waters where they have been constructed to deeper water.
It is indicative of the high standing of the company that such trust is placed in it for contracts like this, says Brown.
“The last job was a $110m yacht. If you scratch that then it’s a million dollar paint repair job.” He says the industry is tightly regulated, which means Thomson Towboats always has to ensure its systems and procedures are fully compliant. Thomson Towboats vessels, crew and equipment are certified for the area and type of operation to the rules, guidelines and standards of Maritime New Zealand, Flag State and any other applicable organisations.
“We work closely with clients to ensure that their Health and Safety in Employment policies are met and adhered to during the duration of their contract.” Thomson Towboats employs five staff with Virginia taking on the office work. As an example of the company’s desire to spread its wings into coastal and offshore work, Thomson Towboats has just towed a ship that was drifting when it broke down 250 miles northwest of North Cape. Brown says the company will be focusing on the Pacific Island markets as well. Thomson Towboats is presently negotiating what will potentially be its first overseas contract to tow some equipment to the Pacific Islands.
