About Us

Formed in 2006, Australian Barge Hire (ABH) is Australia’s largest provider of road-transportable modular jack-up barges.

Designed for the support of cranes, excavators and geotech drilling equipment for nearshore construction, ABH’s barges are hired for geotech drilling campaigns, and bridge and wharf maintenance works. ABH’s current fleet size comprises of seven jack-up barges. The deck jacking capabilities range from 2 tonne to 80 tonne, and all are of modular design for flexible and efficient transport solutions to sites all over Australia.

While ABH also offer modular floating solutions, our Jack-up barges are unique as the barge can be elevated out of the water above waves and tidal movements, providing a safe and stable working platform for the clients on deck equipment. All jack-up barges are fitted with moonpool for geotech drilling, most have 2-3 tonne deck cranes and the spud legs range from 12m to 36m enabling safe operations in water depths from 1m to 25m+. ABH has designed lay down legs on our smaller JUB’s, perfect for getting in and under bridges where overhead clearance is an issue.

The modular design of the ABH fleet of floating and jack-up barges means we can offer a barge that suits most client’s requirements. When the barges are transported by road the pontoons are unloaded by crane and are assembled in water, coupled together through a pin/connector system. The jacking system is then installed
on each corner of the barge with an onboard hydraulic power pack to raise and lower the legs. Typically the barge assembly is 2 days and the same assembly crane will lift the client’s equipment onto the barge during this assembly phase saving time and cost.

A lead-in period of a month is usually sufficient time for ABH to conduct the initial desktop site assessment, planning and mobilisation. Safety and environmental considerations are paramount in the maritime industry, and Australian Barge Hire places a strong emphasis on these aspects. Our fleet is well maintained and regularly operates on tier 1 construction and mining sites. All vessels are in AMSA Survey and are fitted with regulatory safety equipment and operated by qualified and experienced crew that have experience all over Australia.

Common applications for our modular floating and jack-up barges include crane and lifting duties, jetty maintenance, port construction, marine drilling and piling, vessel maintenance, bridge access and asset maintenance work across ports, oil and gas, renewable energy and mining industries.

Currently, ABH have projects in Sydney and Darwin and anticipate to commence new projects in Victoria and Western Australia in the coming months. In the last 12 months alone, ABH have completed projects in Port Hedland, Brisbane, Tasmania, Port Adelaide, Newcastle, Sydney and Port Melbourne. If required, ABH can provide a complete marine package of personnel transfers and towage services, or have the client provide those services if that is more efficient.

Over the past decade, ABH’s barges have played an integral part in some of the major marine construction projects such as Lucinda Wharf upgrade, the Gladstone QCLNG Project, the BHP Hay Point HPX3 Expansion Project, the Yamba Outfall Construction Project, the Western Harbour Tunnel Beach Link, the Eden Jetty Extension, the Weipa Rio Tinto Mission Bridge maintenance Project, Port Hedland FMG wharf maintenance project, and the Newcastle Wangi Mine geotech campaigns.