The 8-metre Marine Park Vessel (MPV) Albacore built by Cobia boats in Huskisson consists of a centre fibreglass hull flanked by inflatable pontoons that make it very stable and buoyant while being low in the water makes it ideal for diving and coming alongside other vessels.

Weighing three tonnes with its twin 150-horsepower outboards, the Marine Park Authority chose to purchase a V-8 Landcruiser to tow the boat up and down the coast.

Skippering the $160,000 vessel is National Parks ranger Ross Constable who has worked out of Narooma for the past 18 years and who now has just over 2000 bar crossings logged.

Mr Constable said a powerful vehicle was needed to tow the large vessel equipped with power brakes that while based in Narooma would be used to patrol all the park’s offshore waters from Ulladulla to just north of Bermagui.

The marine park also has a smaller aluminium craft to patrol estuaries and other sheltered waters.

The Albacore’s design and inflatable pontoons meant the craft was very safe and was a similar design used by police and armed forces.

“It’s effectively its own life raft,” Mr Constable said.

“It’s also fuel efficient and easier to tow.”

Marine park ranger Shamaram Eichmann said the Albacore’s first mission last month was delivering research divers from the University of Wollongong out to reefs off Potato Point and Batemans Bay.

The divers were setting up “baited” cameras left on the seafloor recording fish species that came up to investigate fish baits attached.

On Friday last week, the Albacore went out to Montague Island to do some compliance work checking on fishing activities around the sanctuary zone and grey nurse protection zone.

Ms Eichmann came to the marine park after working with NSW Fisheries for 10 years and as such has experience checking for compliance.

While another task for the day was to take photographs of sanctuary zone boundaries on the island’s shores that will be used in a brochure being put together to help anglers identify the protected areas.

Marine parks including the Batemans Marine Park are now managed jointly by the Marina Park Authority and National Parks, so there was a lot of efficiencies as the agency shared resources and personnel, Mr Constable said.