Aussie Atlas shipyard ready

Aussie Atlas pressure cleaner © Te’A Murphy

Australian Pump Industries new Aussie Atlas pressure cleaner is the latest addition to their stainless steel line up of machines designed for shipyard application.

The concept of the stainless steel design is to provide a marinised version of the machines suitable for salt water environments. The first order of machines was from a large hire company in Australia who have them on permanent hire at Garden Island Dockyard in Sydney Harbour.

Garden Island is the Australian Navy's leading base and is probably the busiest repair yard in the country. Thirty machines were built compact, heavy duty and in highly manoeuvrable stainless steel frames.

The registered stainless steel design gave us the ability to have a machine that is capable and OH & S friendly, the machine is suited to today's world.

The first machines delivered included a heavy duty stainless steel hose reel rated to 5,000 psi. The reel has 30 metres of non-marking blue high pressure hose rated at 5,800 psi. A 30 litre stainless steel break tank is incorporated in the stainless frame. That tank helps protect the blaster's triplex pump from supply variations at the dry-dock site.

The heart of the Aussie Atlas is a Bertolini 'Big Berty' triplex pump running at 1,450 rpms. The drive is through a Bertolini 2 to 1 reduction gearbox.

"The gearbox is sealed and runs in oil, just like the pump's crankshaft and con-rods", said Australian Pumps' Hamish Lorenz. "Using a big pump and reduction box provides for long trouble free life", he said.

The Atlas gets its power from a Hatz model 1B50 air cooled diesel engine. The engine delivers 9.2 hp. "We specked in a 21 litre fuel tank to allow the machine to run continuously for up to ten hours between refuelling", he said.

Aussie Turbo guns were also included as part of the package. Turning the 4,000 psi pump pressure up to 6,4000 psi of EWP (effective working pressure). Turbos are indispensable in some cleaning applications, particularly doing large ship refurbishment.

The Atlas is designed for shipyard work. Optional extras include a emergency stop and electronic control box that incorporates an hour meter and manual stop/start. A heavy duty battery box and battery isolation is included in the design as well.

Ease of moving the machine on and off vessels safely and easily was an absolute requirement for all dry-dock applications. The Aussie Atlas is a result of the long association with naval and commercial dockyard slipways around Australia and the South Pacific. The machine is simple, it incorporates a wide range of user friendly designed features that make it safer and more efficient and conventional machines.

Further information on Australian Pump's marine high pressure water blasters up to 500 bar (7,300 psi) is readily available on Aussie Pump's website or by contacting their Export Department on