New 12m XLW Class in build for NSW Police Dive Unit

Wrights have been contracted to build a dive specific version of our 12m XLW Class Patrol boat for the NSW Police Force. This will be the 4th 12m XLW for the NSW Police, again with Volvo IPS powering. (The 3 other Patrols were delivered last year and since then have been racking up plenty of operational hours).

The main changes for this vessel revolve around providing a much larger cockpit deck and a more “indoor/outdoor” arrangement between the aft deck and wheelhouse to facilitate direct communications with the dive master and crew. To achieve this, the entire wheelhouse has been foreshortened and shifted forward giving an aft deck length of nearly 6m (compared to the standard XLW deck length of 4.5m)

The aft wheelhouse bulkhead now almost entirely consists of a large opening double door. The dive master’s helm seat can rotate 180 degrees allowing them to face aft and oversee operations with the double doors wide open, and there is direct, level access from the deck to the hydraulically lowering swim platform for facilitating entry/exit to the water.

A number of systems have been redesigned and relocated to ensure optimum trim of the vessel. Additionally, the vessel will be installed with the following equipment:

• Quick MC2 X10 Gyro which will provide a super stable platform for dive operations,
• WASSP S3r Multibeam through hull transducer for mapping the seafloor.

The aft deck will incorporate fixings for mobile equipment embarked for each mission including gas “quads”, dive seats, and umbilical stands (supplied by Wrights) for Surface Supplied Breathing Apparatus (SSBA) diving.

SSBA umbilical stands for the new vessel

90th Year NSW Police Dive Unit Celebrations

It was our great pleasure in October to support the NSW Police Diving Unit’s 90th Anniversary celebrations. The Unit is widely believed to be the longest continuously operating police dive unit in the world.

Since the pioneering moment of the first recorded dive by Constable William Moulden on 2nd November 1935 at Wolli Creek, Earlwood, the NSW Police Diving Unit has evolved into one of the most effective and highly trained teams of its kind globally. With a current strength of 14 divers, the unit operates in some of the most challenging environments imaginable – from polluted and contaminated waters to black water conditions – across the state of NSW, including inland rivers, dams, sanitary treatment plants, and coastal areas, diving to depths of up to 50 metres.

It was wonderful to meet and hear the stories of past and present members of the team. It has given us a great appreciation of the importance of the functionality and quality of the vessel we will be providing them with. The following pictures were taken of the event.

Wright’s Director and Operations Manager (David Fussell – second from right) and Wright’s Lead Naval Architect (Adam Evripidou – right) having been presented with a “trophy” for our support.