The MSB operated launch GONIEMAH takes on more than its share of workers early in the 1980s.

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Goniemah

Vessel numberHV000026

Builder Maritime Services Board of New South Wales

Previous owner Maritime Services Board of New South Wales

Date1948

DimensionsVessel Dimensions: 11.4 m x 3.8 m x 1.5 m (37.4 ft x 12.5 ft x 5 ft)
Registered Dimensions: 6 tons
Engine dimensions: 100 x 115 mm, 52 kilowatts, 4 cylinders (3.93 x 4.52 in, 70horsepower)

DescriptionGONIEMAH was built by the Maritiem Services Board constructionan repair workforce located at their Goat Island yard on the Parramatta River in 1948. It is carvel planked, has a single diesel engine witha n enclosed acbin behind the wheelhouse and open cockpit aft. This configuarion allowed it to undertake pasesnger and genral duties work.

GONIEMAH was one of a small number of sisterships and other similar vessels made by or for the MSB over many years. It is one of a small number of such craft still extant, but in their heyday from the 1920s through to the 1960s there were numerous craft of this type operating on ports and harbours.

Since 1991 it has had a close association with the Port Macquarie community where it has been on public display with the Mid-North Coast Maritime Museum. GONIEMAH is now used as a recreational launch for museum members and friends. The skipper, now in retirement, was one of the men who used to man the helm when GONIEMAH was working around Sydney Harbour.
SignificanceGONIEMAH is a wooden launch built in 1948 in NSW. It is an example of a typical general purpose workboat that was one of the many Maritime Services Board vessels to be used on Sydney Harbour over a long period. As one of its duties GONIEMAH was the Harbour Master's launch, but as a workboat it represents the small craft that made up a signifcant part of the infrastructure that supported port and shipping activities for decades.