AST Oceanics provided a vessel and crew to Australian Maritime Systems Ltd for a joint purpose contract: to provide an emergency towage capability in and around the Great Barrier Reef, and to provide a vessel as a platform to carry out maintenance of aids to navigation around NE Australia.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority, AMSA, determined the need for a first strike towage capability to protect the Great Barrier Reef and surrounding region from vessels in distress. From mid-2014, AST Oceanics as subcontractor to Australian Maritime Systems Ltd, provided a fully crewed vessel – the Coral Knight – an 80m Emergency Towage Vessel (ETV) to meet AMSA’s determined capabilities. The contract also required the provision of a new design ETV into the contract by mid-2016 to replace the Coral Knight which was chartered. Unfortunately, the ship yard was unable to deliver within the contracted build time and AST Oceanics therefore withdrew from the contract in March 2017.
