Dongara Marine has continued to develop its boats that are sent to market, transforming the company at regular intervals, it has become a custom boat builder that delivers for the marine industry in Western Australia.
The company recently moved to its new site in Geraldton where it has a range of in-house capabilities including, fabrication, engineering, electrical installation, marine glazing, blasting painting and delivery.
Dongara Marine has specific expertise in high tech composites, manufacturing wheelhouses and other structures for both its own and other boatbuilder’s projects.
Dongara Marine Director John Fitzhardinge began designing, building, and operating commercial fishing boats in Port Denison in the 1960s, before founding Dongara Marine with his wife Beth in 1975.
The main business was to provide vessel support including refit, repair, maintenance and a chandlery store for the local fishing fleet but over the years John designed and built several more boats through Dongara Marine.
The company’s diversified business model enabled it to weather the significant contraction in domestic demand for new vessels that characterised the first 15 years of the 2000s. Since that time its capabilities have been increasingly sought out for new vessel construction projects, not only for fishing boats but also for pilot launches, work boats, and passenger vessels.
With highly experienced management, bigger facilities, and a larger, more diverse workforce Dongara Marine now has in-house capabilities to undertake virtually every aspect of new vessel construction, repair and modification, and vessel support for both commercial and government clients.
Boat construction
Managing director and part-owner Rohan Warr explained the boat building process for Dongara Marine.
“Every time we are building a boat, we are trying to make it better than the last one, whilst sometimes there’s some backwards steps, we always want to be improving what we are sending to market,” Warr said.
“I think the other thing that we do, which is very different is that we have all trades in house meaning we’ve got our own fabricators, our own shipwrights and our own spray painters.”
“The two boats in the shop at the moment are two pilot boats, which are identical and that’ll be the first time we’ve ever done that, having two boats that are exactly the same side by side.”
“I don’t know how we would go with our workforce if we were just pumping out the same machines over and over, they like the challenge of solving new problems each time they build a boat,” Warr explained.
Partnership with Capral
Warr explored the relationship between Dongara Marine and Capral. By working closely with the aluminium supplier, it has greater scope for customisation and continual improvement.
“The aluminium from Capral gives us fantastic customisation which you cannot always get with other materials, it also is extremely durable,” he explained.
“Aluminium is incredibly lightweight but strong for what it is, which is perfect for remote regions that we are often providing these boats to.”
“If you are working in far flung regions of Western Australia, not many places will have someone who can repair composite materials, but most towns will have a welder who can make quick repairs, it allows those who purchase from us to minimise down time,” Warr detailed.
Warr explained how the aluminium stands up far better to corrosion than comparable steel. Aluminium boats are expected to remain in service for over 35 years and Warr expects to see some boats that are correctly maintained remaining in service for close to 50 years.
The relationship with Capral extends further than just simply the quality of the aluminium provided as Warr detailed.
“Our relationship with the sales guys is great, we only want to deal with people who make our lives easier and that is what we get with Capral,” he said.
“The Pilot boats that we are just finishing now used probably 30 tonnes of aluminium, Capral has a great price point, and they have the capacity to meet our needs so we stick with them,” Warr said.
Dongara Marine has been working with Capral on and off since 2012 but they have been working with them almost exclusively since 2019.
Capral works closely with Dongara Marine to deliver products that meet its specific needs, Capral delivers exactly what the company needs to minimise waste and keep the costs to a minimum.
New facility
Dongara Marine moved into its new facility in the middle of August in 2022 and it has allowed the company to greatly improve its output as Warr explains.
“We have effectively doubled our output at this facility, we have gone from four or five boats to sometimes close to 14 now,” he said.
“This has thrown up a new set of challenges, we really have to be on the pulse with our management and making sure we have enough real estate for each boat.”
“We have to have 16 and a half metre clearance under the hook on the crane to get it out so that is challenging,” Warr said.
As he went on to explain, whilst it has thrown out some new challenges for the team, it has been beneficial overall.
“We have been able now to complete our boats indoors whereas we used to to take them out using prime moves but now we can bring a boat lifter into the shed,” Warr explained.
“We used to have a lot of sleepless nights doing that work, but now it is far simpler and we can really see our production ramping up over the coming years.”