Rodney Stevens

Harwood Slipway will continue the transformation into a more diversified marine precinct servicing vessels along Australia’s east coast after the Polaris Marine Group purchased the facility last week, signalling the beginning of a new marine dynasty for the Clarence – Polaris Marine Dockyards.

Established in 1969, Harwood Slipway was focused on designing, building, and repairing ships for more than 30 years under Directors Ross Roberts and Gio Cervella, and since 2018 has expanded and upgraded its facilities.

Polaris Marine Group Managing Director, David Guillot, said in 2011 he diversified from commercial fishing, to purchase Polaris Marine’s tugboat company in Sydney harbour, upskilling himself on all aspects of the industry.

After successfully growing Polaris Marine for the last 12 years, Mr Guillot said the company needed an additional base that they owned, and with the upgrades to Harwood Slipway, it was an ideal choice.

“In buying the slipway, our vision is to have a strategic and diverse marine precinct on the Clarence River” he said.

“As a tug company, we will have the opportunity to berth more modern tugboats here, so that we are able to further service the east coast. Yamba will be a strong focus for the Polaris Marine Group into the future.”

Mr Guillot said the expansion of Harwood slipway in recent years made it attractive as the base for Polaris Marine Dockyards.

“In the last five years the slipway has undergone major changes enabling it to accommodate larger vessels,” he said.

“Before the upgrade the slipway was able to service vessels up to 200 tonne, but now the most recent vessel on the slip was in excess of 2000 tonnes.”

Mr Guillot said another advantage of Polaris Marine Dockyards was the new Cimolai travel lift, with slings that drop around the vessel, that allows vessels up to 440 tonnes to be lifted onto the hardstand.

“This has increased the ability of the yard to take on multiple vessels at one time, which has only happened in the last six months,” he said.

The planned expansion of the Polaris Marine Dockyards will see the current 90 staff retained. Mr Guillot said, and the workforce could grow to more than 100 once the work is complete.

“Our Vision is to see this dockyard grow, supporting long term career-based employment, with our focus to remain on quality shipbuilding, maintenance, dockings and ship recycling,” he said.

“This, together with the opportunity of building a more diverse Marine Precinct here on the Clarence River, will put our business in the box seat to remain commercially sustainable for many years to come”.

“It is our intention to continue building on all the good work Gio and Ross have achieved to date, and we thank them for passing on their vision, knowledge and experience, helping us better understand the yards full potential.”

As part of the purchase, Mr Guillot said the Polaris Marine Group will be working with the Port Authority of NSW by leasing the Goodwood Island Wharf.

“We believe Yamba is well placed to service the islands in the Pacific, as it did previously with the Norfolk Island Trader, and there is no reason why it can’t again in the future,” he said.