The Inyosi workboat will support Transnet National Port Authority’s R889 million Ilembe trailing suction hopper dredger when she gets to work dredging South Africa’s ports early next year.

The combination workboat/hydrographic survey boat is being built by Nautic Africa in Cape Town, as part of the supplier development programme for the Ilembe dredger contract, which was awarded to Royal IHC in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

The boat’s hull was recently relocated from a separate site to the company’s premises to enable the wheelhouse to be attached. The hull was built elsewhere to avoid contamination between its steel structure and the aluminium of the wheelhouse, sourced from a supplier in Pietermaritzburg. The locally built engine was supplied by Caterpillar Marine Power.

Inyosi will be equipped to conduct hydrographic surveys, which usually require TNPA to transport its survey craft from port to port. She will accompany the Ilembe dredger on her voyages to other ports and will ferry stores, spares and crew to the dredger without the need for extra tugs, thus saving fuel and enabling the Ilembe to be self-sufficient. When not in use, Inyosi will be lifted onto the Ilembe using the dredger’s crane and housed on a purpose-built cradle.

Sixty people have been involved in the production of the 11-metre workboat; 25 people on the design and 35 on the construction. It is expected to be handed over to TNPA in early 2016.