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Sundry Tugs
This page displays those tugs which have made rare calls at Onehunga
Greenville VI
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Herenui
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Built in Singapore, she is powered by two 1080hp Stork-Werkspoor diesels, producing a service speed of 11 knots, with a range of 6300 miles, and crewed by up to twelve.
A tug, her lone visit to the port was the result of a lost load, which was then recovered off Cape Reinga. She then collected it and returned to Singapore.
There was quite a tale relating to the lost load, however. The 45m barge was initially lost in gale-force winds, but was retrieved, although the two crewmen who did so damaged their ribs when jumping from the pitching tug onto the barge in ten metre seas on November 23.
Their efforts were in vain, as the tow was lost again next day, and with his ten-strong Indonesian and Filipino crew all suffering from injury or illness, Captain Su Siregar made haste for the nearest port, Onehunga.
In 1990 she was purchased by the Royal Australian Navy and converted to serve as an auxiliary minesweeper.
She was employed in the Bouganville Peace Monitoring Group, and since then has been used in her initial role. Her pennant number is Y298.
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Parry Brothers commission Whangarei Engineering and Construction Ltd to build a new tug which was launched on 6 March 1972, and "Herenui" was duly powered by two 340hp General Motors engines, producing a speed of 10.5 knots.
The 765 ton barge she was towing on her 1100ft towline when she visited on 3-4 March 1977, "Kawenui", was built in 1975 by WECO, six years before Parry Brothers, her original operators, changed their name.
Sea-Tow Ltd need no introduction - go here for more on their vessels which visited Onehunga. "Kawenui" became "Sea-Tow 6" as part of the new enterprise, while "Herenui" became "Sea-Tow 23".
Five years before that change, however, "Herenui" visited Onehunga for a second time, her call at the start of 1978 being to tow a new mooring buoy to the Taharoa Ironsands port, an offshore site located down the coast roughly halfway between Onehunga and New Plymouth.
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Killarney
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Marchart IV
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 Sourced from www.photoship.co.uk
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 There's a photo of her out there somewhere, but I've yet to track it down!
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Built for the Royal Navy at Lytham St. Annes, she was initially a coal-fired tug, producing a service speed of 12 knots.
She was converted to an oil-fired tug in the 1930s, when operating for Kingcome Navigation in Vancouver, and was renamed twice more by that company during her time with them, which also included a further engine upgrade, to a 1500hp Fairbanks-Morse diesel in 1962.
Vancouver Tugboat Co acquired her in 1969 and renamed her "Le Beau". Within twelve months, Vancouver Tugboat had merged with Island Tug & Barge to form Seaspan International, a subsidiary of which was the Timaru-based Unit Shipping Company.
Crewed by eleven, and equipped with a gyro compass and automatic pilot, a VHF radio, and with a towing winch carrying 2500 feet of 2.125 inch diameter wire - capable of reeling at 30 feet a minute at a line pull of 75,000 pounds, and 120 feet a minute at a line pull of 18,500 pounds, she set out on her delivery voyage in October 1970, carrying a cargo of pulp intended for Port Kembla.
Industrial activity there meant she re-routed for Onehunga, arriving in December to commence a short-lived tug-and-barge service with the fully enclosed 1964-built barge "UNZ4", which was capable of carrying 1800 tons deadweight and was loaded through doors in the side by truck or forklift.
The owners had expansive plans for the venture, including the building of three more barges at Orakei, but come mid-July 1971, thanks largely to a demarcation dispute, "Unit Shipper" arrived at Onehunga for the final time, and was laid up in port for a few months.
She was eventually sold to Seaways Inc of Panama, with management under the hands of Liffey Marine. "Killarney" made one last call at Onehunga in March 1972, and headed for Singapore with the barge "Liffey 1" in tow.
She carried out ammunition shuttles under charter to a US government agency prior to the collapse of South Vietnam, and while on a towing voyage from Singapore to the Arabian Gulf in 1976, suffered machinery failure near Colombo.
It proved to be her last working voyage, for after temporary repairs she returned to Singapore, where she was laid up until the towing tug was herself told to Jurong in October 1977 to be broken up.
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Very little has been found regarding this tug, other than the fact she visited Onehunga twice - just before Christmas in 1971 en route to Kawhia, and in early March 1973, en route to Port Kembla.
Something of a mystery vessel - there's no mention of her I can trace on the internet, other than the recording of a visit to Auckland in January 1971 in the NZ Maritime Museum index.
Possibly operated by Marine Charters (Aust.) Pty Ltd, who were Fremantle-based, and operated a research / survey vessel, "Marchart 3". It seems there was a dispute concerning her ownership in June 1971 which saw the vessel held up in Wanganui for four weeks before it was settled on 20 July.
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Mohala
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Pohonui
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 Sourced from navy.togetherweserved.com
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Built in 1962 in Portland, Oregon, for Hawaiian Tug & Barge, she was crewed by nine men and powered by a 1000hp diesel engine which gave a speed of 10 knots when light, and 8 knots when towing a full barge some 1000 feet astern.
In 1966 she was acquired by Unit Shipping Company, but only made one voyage from Onehunga - to Lyttleton towing a barge (HTB14 - Honolulu) laden with cars - due to industrial issues.
Dillingham Transportation acquired her for their tug-and-barge service between Nelson, Wanganui and Napier, carrying serpentine rock from the South Island port on the barge "Pohonui".
Their first voyage in 1967 resulted in the completion, in April, of the first circumnavigation of the country by a tug-and-barge service carrying general cargo - her visit to Onehunga as part of this took place on 10 February.
Soon after, "Mohala" was a central figure in an unusual search-and-rescue mission after the ketch "Tiki III" was stolen from Brisbane in mid-April. The initial search proved unsuccessful, but the yacht was eventually found two months later by a freighter in heavy seas 200 miles off New Zealand's northern coastline.
"Mohala" was called in to tow the vessel back to Auckland, and what they found was described by the tug's crew as "a bloodstained shambles", with extensive damage to parts of the ketch, which had been repainted since being stolen and made to look older than it was. A real 'Whodunnit!' case!
After her final voyage to Onehunga in 1968, a year in which she was also involved in refloating the pirate radio ship "Tiri II" - the home of Radio Hauraki's early broadcasts, she was acquired by the US Navy for use in 'Cold War operations'! Since when, of course, nothing has been heard about her. Funny, that!
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The largest barge ever built in New Zealand was constructed by Mason Brothers in Auckland, and launched on 16 November 1966 for Auckland Water Transport.
Primarily used to carry serpentine rock from Nelson to Wanganui and Napier, she made a couple of calls at Onehunga in the late 1960s, towed by "Mohala".
A couple of weeks after the first of those calls, in February 1967, she arrived off Napier on 6 March but broke adrift from her moorings, grounding on Westshore Beach.
It took several days before she could be refloated, but it was worthwhile, because when she arrived in Auckland in April 1967, it marked the completion of the first circumnavigation of New Zealand by a tug-and-barge operation carrying general cargo.
In 1969, McCallum Bros. acquired "Pohonui", using her as a sand barge. She is still fully utilised by McCallum's nearly fifty years later, and was heavily involved in clearing the containers from "Rena" after her infamous grounding at Astrolabe Reef on 5 October 2011, New Zealand's worst maritime environmental disaster.
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Parahaki
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Steel Navigator
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 Taken by Chris Howell, www.shipspotting.com
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 taken by Trevor Coppock, www.seapixonline.com - All Rights Reserved
Photo shows vessel as "Kaipara Karrier VI", after her time as "Steel Navigator"
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Built in Lowestoft ahead of the opening of the Marsden Point Oil Refinery in 1964, she was equipped with fire-fighting equipment aplenty, and served the Northland Harbour Board / Northport for twenty-five years, making her lone call at Onehunga in 1993 as a tug-and-barge operation, with "Steel Navigator" the vessel requiring her propulsion.
Sold to Cook Islands interests in 1997, and her fate since is unknown.
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Built in Singapore, her lone visit to Onehunga was part of her delivery voyage to Mt. Rex Shipping, for use as an aggregates barge on the Kaipara Harbour.
She was modified before being pressed into service by her new owners, who are based on the Kaipara Coast Highway at Helensville, and provide sand, aggregate and shingle supplies to the building industry.
Founded in 1973 as Coldale Shipping, they changed to their current title in 1977, and are a division of Atlas Concrete, which is 41% owned by Holcim.
The above photo is the only known picture taken of this vessel - well spotted, Trevor Coppock!
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Teledex IV
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Tui Tawate
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 Taken by Cdag, www.shipspotting.com
Photo shows vessel as "Blazing Seven", following her time as "Teledex IV"
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 Taken by Bob Leask, www.shipspotting.com
Photo shows vessel as "Tapuhu", prior to her time as "Tui Tawate"
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Built as a tug by Gulfcorp Shipbuilding Corporation in Texas, she is powered by two 580hp Caterpillar diesel engines, producing a service speed of 11 knots.
She was employed by Teledyne Exploration Company on geophysical survey work, and on the occasion of her visit to Onehunga under the guidance of Captain John Lesley, was en route to the East Gippsland Basin, about 50 miles north-east of Flinders Island, to carry out marine seismic surveys on behalf of Magellan.
She is now a fisheries research and support vessel for M&T Oceanographic Research in Lockport, Louisiana.
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Built in Aberdeen, this tug will always be associated with one of the darkest days in New Zealand maritime history.
Initially employed by the UK Ministry of War Transport, she carried out Naval support work in the area between India and Singapore for two years, before the Union Company acquired her for tugboat work around New Zealand, renaming her "Tapuhi".
She carried out her duties for 27 years, but it is what she did on 10 April 1968 which will live on. That was the day of the "Wahine" disaster, and she had already taking on water after being driven off Barrett's Reef when "Tapuhi" arrived on the scene and got a line to the ship amidst Mother Nature's worst.
She began towing "Wahine" stern-first, but within ten minutes the line broke, and attempts to reattach it proved futile. Just over two hours later, "Wahine" turned over and sank, taking with her 51 lives. "Tapuhi" was able to rescue 174 people, a feat recognised by a memorial to the vessel in Oriental Bay.
In 1973, she was sold to Suva's Narain Construction Company, and it was en route to her new employers that she called into Onehunga to take the barge "Viking" in tow on the voyage north. (see picture left)
While crossing the Manukau Bar, the tow line parted, and the barge drifted out to sea, only to be successfully recovered by the trawler "San Caroline" that day. The tow resumed next day, with a call made at Whangarei to add another barge to the burden.
A year later, she was purchased by Reece Discombe in Port Vila, who leased her to Ian Lockley in 1977 for a project which required the extraction of oil remaining in the hull of the wreck of "SS President Coolidge" in Espiritu Santo, via "Tua Tuate", to the passenger liner "Arcadia".
Nine years later, Clement Griffiths of Wellington looked to purchase her with the idea of bringing her back to New Zealand's capital as a floating restaurant. That didn't eventuate, as "Tui Tuate" wasn't seaworthy enough to make the trip, and ended up being abandoned in the river near Luganville.
Nearly a decade later, she was towed from there to the Segond Channel in Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu, where she was scuttled in 44 metres of water just off the Coral Quays Resort. She is now a dive site.
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Sea Pelican
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York Syme
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 Sourced from www.photoship.co.uk
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Built in Batam, she has a service speed of 10 knots.
Formerly based in Australia, she is operated by Tasman Tugs and undertakes all manner of towing, salvage and logistical support work.
Her most recent call at Onehunga saw her taking in tow two derelict trawlers on November 21, 2017, bound for Henderson, a journey far easier to make via road than sea, which entails rounding Cape Reinga.
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Built by Adelaide Ship Construction Ltd to a Burness, Collett & Partners, UK, design, Howard Smith Ltd operated her until 1977, when she was sold to Derwent Tug Co., Melbourne.
Four years later, she was owned by North West S&T Co., and it was while under their stewardship that she crossed the Tasman and made her lone visit to Onehunga, towing a barge across from Melbourne en route to Auckland.
She was named in honour of a major influence in Australian shipping, David York Syme, and operated under the Cook Islands flag for some years.
In 1997, she ran aground in Gulf Harbour, while twenty years later she got stuck in mud on the Weiti River, north of Auckland, during high tide. And on Waitangi Day 2020, she caught fire at Soldiers Bay, on Auckland's North Shore, where she had been moored for some time. The fire was quickly put out.
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