St. Johns Ship Building Delivers Two Push Tugs to Smithbridge, Australia

St. Johns Ship Building of Palatka, Fla. delivered two custom built twin screw push tugs, the Lady Shayne and the Lady Dashelle, for Smithbridge of Brisbane Australia.

These 25-ft tugs feature twin John Deere model diesel engines with a combined rating of 600hp and conventional shaft drives with reversing gears.

“The Lady Shayne and Lady Dashelle will be assigned to a very high profile marine construction site in Botany Bay in Sydney, Australia where a new bulk liquid terminal is being built to accommodate tankers,” said Ron Mason, Marine Operations Manager and New Construction Projects Manager for Smithbridge.

With these tugs, Smithbridge can adapt various kinds of utility equipment to the front of the vessel for different project requirements, “thanks to the excellent job St. Johns did in developing our hydraulic anchor handling frame for the front,” said Mason. The Shayne and Dashelle will handle the 160-ft by 80-ft piling barge as it goes through the piling process for the terminal.

In addition to these newbuilds, St. Johns Ship Building will begin work on a second pair of identical tugs, as well as a pair of 39-ft truckable tugs, for Smithbridge.

The Smithbridge Group specializes in civil and marine design and construction and operates in Australia, New Zealand, Guam and New Caledonia. Smithbridge has been recognized for its engineering innovations, outstanding job performance and high safety standards by organizations such as the Civil Contractors Federation, the Institution of Professional Engineers NZ, the Structural Engineering Society of New Zealand and the Guam Contractor’s Association.

St. Johns Ship Building, Inc. is a full service ship building facility with over 30 years combined experience, state of the art equipment and a crane capacity of 500 Tons. The shipyard features over 900 feet of bulkhead waterfront including a 400-ft launch basin, a 1,200 Ton dry dock, a 425-ft by 75-ft fabrication shop as well as complete carpentry, electrical and machine shops. St. Johns Ship Building is located on a beautiful 98 acre wooded site along the St. Johns River in Putnam County (approximately 68 southwest of Jacksonville, Fla.).