Sea Swift is a north Australian

shipping company A shipping line or shipping company is a company whose line of business is ownership and operation of ships. Shipping companies provide a method of distinguishing ships by different kinds of cargo: # Bulk cargo is a type of special cargo that is ...

. The company operates in Northern Australia, mainly servicing remote, coastal, and regional communities in

Far North Queensland Far North Queensland (FNQ) is the northernmost part of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland. Its largest city is Cairns, Queensland, Cairns and it is dominated geographically by Cape York Peninsula, which stret ...

and the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

. The company provides cargo and freight, engineering and maritime logistical support, bulk fuel deliveries, and defence industry support, operating linehaul vessels and landing craft vessels, in addition to

barge A barge is typically a flat-bottomed boat, flat-bottomed vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. Original use was on inland waterways, while modern use is on both inland and ocean, marine water environments. The firs ...

tug A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, suc ...

s and

landing craft Landing craft are small and medium seagoing watercraft, such as boats and barges, used to convey a landing force (infantry and vehicles) from the sea to the shore during an amphibious assault. The term excludes landing ships, which are larger. ...

History

Sea Swift started in 1987 when founder Sid Faithfull identified an opportunity to service

Gulf of Carpentaria The Gulf of Carpentaria is a sea off the northern coast of Australia. It is enclosed on three sides by northern Australia and bounded on the north by the eastern Arafura Sea, which separates Australia and New Guinea. The northern boundary ...

fishing fleets by mothershipping from Karumba. Over the next 25 years, Sea Swift grew to become Australia's largest privately owned shipping company, operating regular freight, mothershipping, project logistics, and passenger cruise services from its

Cairns Cairns (; ) is a city in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. In the , Cairns had a population of 153,181 people. The city was founded in 1876 and named after William Cairns, Sir W ...

headquarters to communities throughout Far North Queensland. Expanding to a fleet of purpose-built vessels (including linehauls, landing craft, and tug and barge), nine depots, and over 520 staff across all depots in Queensland and the Northern Territory. Today, Sea Swift continues to service remote communities along

Cape York Peninsula The Cape York Peninsula is a peninsula located in Far North Queensland, Australia. It is the largest wilderness in northern Australia.Mittermeier, R.E. et al. (2002). Wilderness: Earth's last wild places. Mexico City: Agrupación Sierra Madre, ...

and in the Gulf of Carpentaria, as well as the

Torres Strait Islands The Torres Strait Islands are an archipelago of at least 274 small islands in the Torres Strait, a waterway separating far northern continental Australia's Cape York Peninsula and the island of New Guinea. They span an area of , but their tot ...

, including Horn Island,

Thursday Island Thursday Island, colloquially known as TI, or in the Kalaw Lagaw Ya, Kawrareg dialect, Waiben or Waibene, is an island of the Torres Strait Islands, an archipelago of at least 274 small islands in the Torres Strait. TI is located approximately ...

and the Outer Torres Strait Islands islands. In early 2013, through the acquisition of Tiwi Barge, Sea Swift commenced an operation in the

. The initial two-vessel and 15-person operation servicing four destinations has grown to become a nine-vessel, 144-person, three-depot operation servicing 25 destinations across the Territory. Now, Sea Swift services thousands of people in remote communities every week. The company operates 365 days a year regardless of the often challenging weather conditions experienced in the Far North. Many communities in the Torres Strait would be almost completely isolated from essential goods and services if Sea Swift did not deliver to them. Sea Swift service most locations in the Torres Strait, including Saibai Island, 16km from the coast of Papua New Guinea.

Services

Sea Swift provides several different services for remote, regional and coastal areas of Northern Australia: * Project Logistics and Charter – barge/tug and landing craft operations and crewed (or bare boat) vessel chartering. * Sea Freight and General Cargo – scheduled cargo, fuel and freight services accommodating regional break bulk, bulk fuel and container freight requirements. * Bulk Fuel – Sea Swift is the region's leader in bulk fuel transport and reliable transport of fuels and oils from private business to large-scale industries in Northern Australia. Their customer base includes fuel-stations, mines, remote service stations,local councils and retail outlets. *Defence - Sea Swift provide engineering, fuel, maintenance, and logistics support to Government Agencies and the Defence Services in Northern Australia. Sea Swift's Project Logistics unit has seen jobs completed domestically to destinations including Gladstone, the Torres Strait Islands - both inner islands and the Outer Torres Strait Islands (OTSI), Mornington Island, Lizard Island, Palm Island, Darwin, Gove, Tiwi Islands, Arnhem Land, Groote Eylandt and many others. Clients serviced include large government departments and influential national stakeholders in the food, essential services, and mining industries, amongst others.

Depot Locations

*''Cairns (QLD head office)'' *''Horn Island'' *''Thursday Island'' *''Badu'' *''Seisia/Bamaga'' *''Weipa'' *''Darwin (NT head office)'' *''Gove'' *''Groote Eylandt''

Vessels

Sea Swift has a range of purpose-built and strategically designed vessels to service Northern Australia. The following vessels are currently within Sea Swift's fleet.

Linehaul Vessels

*MV ''Newcastle Bay'' – General cargo *MV ''WARRENDER'' – General cargo *MV ''Territorian'' – General cargo

Landing craft

*''Albatross Bay'' *''Arnhem Trader'' *''Bhagwan Mover'' *''Biquele Bay'' *''Cygnet'' *''Fourcroy'' *''Malu Chief'' *''Malu Explorer'' *''Malu Titan'' *''Malu Trojan'' *''Malu Warrior'' *''Punsand Bay'' *''Tiwi Islander''

Tugs

*''Cossack'' *''King River'' *''Norman River'' *''Staaten River''

Barges

*''SSB1802'' *''SSB1803''

References

External links

Sea Swift website
{{coord, 16, 56, 48, S, 145, 46, 13, E, type:landmark_region:AU-QLD, display=title Cairns, Queensland Darwin, Northern Territory Far North Queensland Torres Strait Islands Companies based in Queensland Companies based in the Northern Territory Shipping companies of Australia