When Icon Custom boats built Seastar isn’t deployed on commercial workboat duties or tourism charters in the spectacular waters of Fjordland on the west coast of New Zealand’s South Island, she is hunting for one of the world’s most famous and sought-after shipwrecks, the General Grant. Owner Bill Day wanted Oxe Diesel Outboards on the back of this multi-purpose vessel – and he is certainly very happy with his choice!

“We’re towing a magnetometer behind Seastar close to the cliffs around the islands there,” explained Bill of the General Grant search, “so the engines are running at lower speed towing that equipment behind at around 3knots for long periods.”

Working in close to the rock cliffs of the Auckland Islands requires vigilant skippering, (a calm day in this area of the sub-Antarctic still delivers a 1.6 to 1.8 metre swell), and Bill says the vessel operates in those tows with one engine doing the work “and the other engine just running at idle – they’ll happily run like all day that if you need to and we keep the other engine running in case we need to move out of danger quickly.”

Seastar is not exclusively a “go-slow” vessel. Built by Icon Custom boats, (one of New Zealand’s finest boat builders of commercial, search and rescue and recreational vessels), her top speed is a respectable 27 knots, but she will happily hold 20 knots with the Oxe Diesels running at 3,800rpm. That kind of performance is a marvellous showcase of just how strong the twin 200hp Oxe diesels are – delivering real horsepower right through their rev range.