Fire and Rescue NSW swap trucks for tugs

A team from Fire and Rescue NSW swapped their fire trucks for one of Port Authority of New South Wales’s two firefighting tug boats in January to find out more about our firefighting capabilities.

Port Authority has two firefighting tugs that each have a capacity for delivering 16000 litres of water per minute, part of a number of emergency response vessels and specialised equipment used for fire-fighting, oil spill response, salvage and providing assistance to stricken vessels.

The training activity was a joint exercise to discuss Port Authority’s emergency response procedures and demonstrate our equipment and capabilities in assisting with firefighting operations around the harbour and along its foreshores.

Port Authority’s marine operations teams work closely with Fire and Rescue NSW to prepare for fighting fires which may not be accessible to the fire teams by land.

Fire and Rescue NSW are just one of the emergency response organisations Port Authority works alongside in protecting the coastlines and waters of New South Wales.

As the lead responder to maritime incidents like fires, oil spills and vessels needing assistance, Port Authority is ready to respond to emergencies in coastal waters stretching from Fingal Head, Port Stephens to Gerroa, south of Port Kembla and up to three nautical miles out to sea.

Every year, Port Authority’s highly trained emergency response teams respond to hundreds of reports of marine pollution and undertake thousands of safety audits of vessels transferring potentially dangerous goods such as bulk oil, gas and chemicals.