Ongoing acoustic trials are the only issue awaiting resolution before the Port of Tauranga's new pilot boat, Arataki, is handed over and put to work.

The new pilot boat is being tested before it heads for Tauranga.

The 16m Arataki has become a regular site on the Whanganui River bar over recent weeks while the $2 million pilot boats undergoes sea trials.

'The customer's extremely happy with it, but we reckon we can get the sound levels a little bit lower,” says Q-West Boat Builders managing director Myles Fothergill.

The Wanganui Chronicle reports the builders were working with a propeller noise issue.

Port of Tauranga operations manager Nigel Drake says the ongoing acoustic trials are looking at reducing some ‘hull transmitted' noise.

He's expecting the Port of Tauranga to take possession of Arataki towards the end of this month.

The Arataki has been a year in the build. It can seat seven and carries state-of-the-art technology, much of it accessed through touch screens. It is powered by twin 750hp Scania V8s.
Arataki is the second pilot boat to come from Wanganui. Myles Fothergill and Q-West general manager Colin Mitchell built the current PTL pilot boat 27 years ago, when the company operated as Wanganui Boats.

'Getting a contract like this certainly helps us because Tauranga would rank as the most progressive port in the country at the moment,” says Myles.