New emergency response vessel for Port Kembla

Local school student names new vessel joining Port Authority of New South Wales’s fleet to help protect Port Kembla.

Splashing down on Thursday 10 December, Port Authority of NSW’s new vessel has been named Elourie to honour a local landmark significant to the region’s traditional owners. 

The 5.9-m long boat will carry a floating boom and pumps to help control and remove any oil, chemicals or other substances from the sea surface, and will be used by our ops team to undertake safety audits of the hundreds of vessels that visit Port Kembla each year. 

“Specially-built for emergency response in Port Kembla Harbour, this boat will allow us to respond faster and more effectively to large-scale marine incidents such as oil or chemical spills,” said Peter Ernst, Port Authority’s Head of Operations, Port Kembla and South Coast.

The important task of naming the vessel was given to local students at St Patrick’s Primary in a competition that produced the winning name Elourie. the traditional name for Hill 60 — a heritage-listed Aboriginal site at Military Road, Port Kembla. 

“Our new boat is also local,” says Peter. “It was built by local contractors, was named by a local primary school student and will hit the water to protect our local maritime environment. That local connection was important to us.” 

Built by contractor H Solutions, construction on Elourie began on 24 August 2020. 

“It’s been great to work on this vessel and with Port Authority,” said Henry Kadzielski CEO, H Solutions. 
“We wanted to ensure we used and supported local supplies wherever possible to make this boat a success. Today is a proud moment, seeing Elourie enter the water safety and go on its journey to help the marine environment.”