Kōpū Marine Servicing and Business Precinct’s new $15.3 million facility is expected to provide a huge boost to the Thames district’s marine servicing industry.
While the site’s existing boat yard already offered repair and engineering services, primarily to the aquaculture industry maintaining and repairing mussel barges and their associated machinery, the new facility is equipped to service recreational boats as well.
The Kōpū Marine Precinct development boasts a new 80m T-head wharf with tie-up capacity for up to 10 vessels, which means servicing and maintenance work can be undertaken with vessels in the water if a haul-out is not required. Previously vessels had to be hauled out for servicing. Now work such as routine engine servicing, servicing deck gear, electrical and plumbing work can be undertaken with recreational and commercial vessels tied up alongside the new wharf. Should a haul-out be necessary, Kopu Marine Ltd, a division of Kopu Engineering, has a large haulout trailer suitable for vessels up to 100 tons, a freight barge loading and unloading facility, and a well-equipped haulout yard.
Kōpū Marine Precinct is likely to attract fleets from as far afield as Auckland, Whangārei, Waikato and the Bay of Plenty, for servicing and in-water maintenance.
And with the addition of a separate public boat ramp, it’s also a much safer place – previously recreational boaters had to share a combined slipway, barge loading area and boat ramp with commercial operations, which could be hazardous. The precinct now offers a modern, completely separate public boat ramp with a floating pontoon and trailer parking for about 34 boats, eliminating
a potential safety risk.
www.tcdc.govt.nz/kopu www.kopumarine.co.nz
