Mussel boat to be put in shape

John Maslin | Friday, February 3, 2012 7:29

BARGE BUSINESS: Westpac Mussels' new barge was towed to Q-West's slipway by the Wanganui port company's pilot launch, where it will undergo work to correct some build defects. PHOTO/BEVAN CONLEY

A mussel barge which had been tied up at the city marina for six months has been towed to a Wanganui shipyard for some "corrective" work.

The barge was built in Palmerston North for Auckland aquaculture company Westpac Mussels Distributors.

The barge was trucked to Wanganui and launched at Castlecliff.

But then a dispute over some aspects of the build quality saw the vessel, Emily James, towed to the city marina, where it has been tied up since August last year.

Westpac management would not comment about its dispute with the Palmerston North boatbuilders, but one of the problems is with the bow thrusters, which sit about 600mm above the water line instead of being submerged.

The mussel harvester was towed to the Q-West Boat Builders slipway by the Wanganui Port pilot launch.

Q-West general manager Colin Mitchell said there was a "substantial amount" of work to be done on the craft, and it would take about two months to complete.

Westpac Mussels put the work out to tender nationally and Q-West was successful.

Westpac Mussels grows, processes and exports green-lipped mussels.

It operates marine farms in the Far North and the Coromandel Peninsula, a trucking fleet and processing and packaging plant.