1929 W.G. Lowe & Sons Lighter Tug

A Rare Piece of New Zealand Maritime History

Few vessels come to market with the authenticity, character and documented history of Kuri. Built in Auckland in 1929 by the renowned W.G. Lowe & Sons shipyard and designed by respected naval architect Herbert Levi, Kuri represents a significant chapter of New Zealand's commercial and maritime heritage.

Constructed as a purpose-built lighter tug for the famous Richardson & Co. Shipping Line of Napier, she was engineered to work every day in demanding commercial service. Her immensely strong triple-skin kauri hull, built to an impressive 2½ inches thick over substantial stringers and structural bulkheads, is a testament to an era when vessels were expected to last for generations—not decades. Today, after nearly a century afloat, Kuri continues to prove exactly why these classic New Zealand workboats have become so highly sought after.

I think what moves me as a broker is Kuri's life. I can almost see the generations of people whose hands have touched her. The shipwrights at W.G. Lowe & Sons shaping kauri in 1929. The tug crews working Napier Harbour. The men in Fiji during the war. The barge skippers, the charter operators, and then the family who quietly cared for her in the Marlborough Sounds for nearly twenty years. Almost a century of lives connected by one vessel. Now that’s a Legacy!!

Contact Peter Colenbrander

Phone: 0273173017

Email: peter@parkermarinegroup.co.nz