SYDPORT dressed for a heritage parade in the late 1990s

Images(7)

SYDPORT moored off the Dawn Fraser Baths in Balmain.

SYDPORT laying cables for the PMG on Brisbane Water NSW in the 1960s.

Sydport

Vessel numberHV000244

Official Number316107

Previous owner Harbour Lighterage

Builder Ballina Slipway and Engineering

Designer Arthur Swinfield

Date1960

DimensionsVessel Dimensions: 13.72 m x 4.57 m x 2.13 m, 29.53 tonnes (45 ft x 15 ft x 7 ft, 30 tons)

DescriptionBuilt in 1960 at Ballina Slipway and Engineering under its proprietor SG White, SYDPORT was launched late that year. In 1961 it was taken south to begin work on Sydney Harbour. The owner was Sydney Harbour Lighterage, one of the big lighterage firms working the harbour in that period. Based at Glebe, west of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the company provided tugs and barges for all types of general duties; towing barges, berthing ships and supporting maintenance crews on what was then a busy working harbour.

SYDPORT was one of their small fleet of tugs. The 13.72 m (45 ft) carvel planked vessel had a single 188 kW (250 hp) General Motors diesel. Its design and construction are typical of the small tugs operating on Sydney Harbour at the time.

It remained in service with Harbour Lighterage until it was retired in 1986. It was eventually sold in the early 1990s. SYDPORT then became a recreational vessel and appeared as a prop in the 1997 film 'Dogwatch'. in 1999 the owner arranged a loan from the Heritage Council (repaid at current interest rates) to assist in some work on the vessel.

In 2008 SYDPORT remained in good original condition and configuration.

SignificanceSYDPORT a wooden tug built in 1960 in Ballina, northern NSW, for work on Sydney Harbour, is an example of a design by naval architect Arthur Swinfield. It is one of the few remaining timber tugs from a period when they were the workhorses for the marine industry and a regular part of the daily life of Sydney Harbour. It retains its original operational configuration. It worked continuously on Sydney Harbour for more than 25 years.