Birdon Built Firefighting Vessels - Burra And Girawaa - For Port Authority Of NSW

In 2021, the Port Authority of NSW awarded the Birdon team a contract to design and construct two new state-of-the-art firefighting vessels for Port Botany and Sydney Harbor.

In 2021, the Port Authority of NSW awarded the Birdon team a contract to design and construct two new state-of-the-art firefighting vessels for Port Botany and Sydney Harbor.

Burra and Girawaa fastest response vessels

The Burra and Girawaa are the fastest response vessels ever commissioned by the Port Authority and were launched in Sydney Harbour in January this year. 

Girawaa is the Dharawal word for Stingray, which is a spiritually significant being for Aboriginal people with a cultural connection to Coastal Sydney. Burra is the word for eel in multiple Aboriginal languages spoken within the Sydney basin.

The state-of-the-art vessels: 

• Can spray up to 16,000 liters of water per minute (the equivalent of 4 x large fire engines)
• Travel at a speed of 27 knots (50km per hour)
• Are capable of turns of 360 degrees
• Can project water to 90 meters (almost the length of a standard soccer field)
• Are fitted with underwater surveillance measuring and monitoring systems.

These vessels will help the Port Authority NSW respond to over 1000 incidents per year in Sydney ports alone, including vessel fires, oil pollution, and water rescues. Both Burra and Girawaa were constructed by 60 of their amazing and highly skilled teams in Port Macquarie.