Come and visit Rhino Craft during Promote 2011

Good day.
I will be at the PROMOTE 2011 International Trade show from the 3rd until the 11th of December.
Come and visit me!

Rhino Craft - Robust, Rigid and Reliable - Far more than an RIB

At the occasion of our coming participation to PROMOTE 2011, a trade show in Yaounde - Cameroon, we have launched a new campaign :

Far more than an RIB!

Rhino Craft - Robust, Rigid and Reliable
Far more than an RIB

Our new Rhino Craft : the Rhino 690

The Rhino 690 is our latest addition to the range and our first model is currently being build.
As you can see, the boat's structure is already done.
It will soon be carried from Pretoria to Cape Town to receive its inboard diesel motor and Ultrajet drive.
We will carry out sea trials sometime in December.
I will confirm the date in due time.

Our new Rhino 690 is looking GREAT.

The newly designed hull of the Rhino 690

Ready to receive the Ultrajet

Our page in the South African Boatbuilding Industry Guide 2012

The new South African boatbuilding Industry Guide 2012 is OUT now and we are IN.

Click on the image below to get the High Definition pdf file (1.8 Mb).

For a Low Definition version (254Kb), click HERE
Enjoy the reading...

Rhino 950 Scuba Replacement Boat - Sea trial

The new Rhino 950 Scuba Replacement boat Built by Wale Marine for SMIT Subsea went on sea trial on Monday.

Great performances and maneuverability qualify this new craft.

The craft has reached:

• 22 knots in light ship conditions,
• 16 knots with 1500 Kg load and 6 crew members on board,
• 10 knots with 3000 Kg and 6 crew members on board.

Watch the video...

Wale Marine's latest Rhino 950 SRP after sandblasting

Ready to receive the Ultra Jet 305 jet-drive

The building of the boat is on schedule...
At the time of publication, the Jet drive has already been installed and the motor's chamber is getting ready.
In less than two weeks, our latest baby goes out for a sea trial...

Exciting time to come.

Smit Subsea can't wait for receiving it.
It will give the team so much freedom of movement when operating on offshore sites.
This magnificent HPDE boat will have soon many siblings.

Here will come the SRP system

 This magnificent HPDE boat will have soon many siblings.

Opening in the pontoon for the Dive ladder

I wish my forehead was as robust... 

The chamber for the 295 HP Steyr Marine Diesel 

Aluminium Hatch to be...

About Rhino Marine...

Rhino Marine Products (Pty) Ltd, a Cape town based company manufactures HPDE boats as a more stronger and durable replacement for conventional RIB's, Aluminium and GRP hull work boats since 2003.

It all started after Wale Marine cc, its sister company, was approached by M&R to develop such boats.

After conducting sufficient research into HDPE and the welding thereof, the first 5.9 m Rhino boat was fabricated in 2003 and was a great success. Since then we have constantly been improving our hull designs, fabrication processes and capacity. Rhino Marine now has fabrication plants in both Johannesburg and Cape Town, with our head offices being based in Cape Town. 
We now have a set of proven hull designs and drive systems which are marketed, fabricated and sold as Rhino Marine Products. 
Through our sister company, Wale Marine cc, we are constantly investing in R&D and developing new prototypes that our target markets may require. Wale Marine cc is a well-established engineering corporation operating since 1985 with a dedicated team of engineers who develop all our prototype boats. Once the prototypes have been tried and tested, they are then marketed and sold as Rhino Marine Products. Our models currently include work boats, personnel transfer boats, Scuba Replacement Boats and HDPE Barges. We are busy investigating bringing out a fast rescue boat range, and are capable and happy to develop customized boats for operations that so require. 

Over the years we have developed good relations with top naval architect companies, marine motor agents and many suppliers of marine equipment relating to our industry in order to supply top quality HDPE boats at competitive prices. We have also developed good relations with our shipping agents as our boats are mostly fabricated for export, and thus have also developed a good understanding and experience in the transport/shipping of our boats to various parts of the world. 

Rhino Marine is a member of the South African Boat Building Export Council (SABBEX) which allows for us to travel to various parts of the world in order to conduct marketing and research which ensures that we maintain awareness relating to our markets latest requirements. We have also developed boats with the South African Marine Safety Authority (SAMSA) which ensures that we maintain the necessary safety requirements pertaining to our boats.

SMIT SUBSEA – 950 JET BOAT

Our sister company, Wale Marine, is currently developing a 9.5m Rhino Boat fitted with a 295HP Steyr Marine inboard diesel motor and 305 Ultra Jet Drive for SMIT Subsea.




The boat is to be used for SCUBA replacement diving operations and it will be supplied completely kitted out with hull modifications for dive operations, electrical system with UPS, Genset & Power Sockets, Safety equipment and certification. 
Trials on the completed boat will be carried within the year and once proven successful the 950 Jet Boat will become an official Rhino Marine model.

RIBRENTAL SCUBA REPLACEMENT BOAT – RHINO 850 JET

We have recently fabricated an 8.5m Rhino Boat fitted with a 164 HP Steyr Marine inboard diesel motor and Alamarine Jet Drive. The boat was fully kitted out with the necessary modifications to carry out SRP dive operations off-shore. Some of the modifications included: pontoon cut out & dive ladder system, stainless steel SAT frame, stainless steel portal structure with canvass canopy, dual battery electrical system and electronic equipment.

Scuba diving ladder...

The clients came down for field trials which were carried out in Cape Town and operation of the boat was to their satisfaction. The Rhino 850 Jet Boat will be stationed on a mother vessel of the West Coast of Africa and will be used for various dive operations relating to the off shore oil and gas industry. 

SBM DYNAMIC INSTALLER – RHINO 590 EHD

The Rhino 590 EHD

We recently supplied SBM with a Rhino 590 EHD for use as a workboat/small personnel carrier which is stationed on their vessel the Dynamic Installer.  One of the bow bollards had been damaged in operation and we therefore sent one of our technicians to complete the necessary repairs onboard the Dynamic Installer while in transit between Ghana and Equatorial Guinea. Not only was the repair work carried out, but our technician provided HDPE welding training to the crew on board and we supplied them with welding equipment and material so that they can now do all their repairs and additions to their Rhino Boat themselves on site.  Rhino Marine offers the service of supplying HDPE welding equipment, material and training on site/on board the client’s mother vessels so that their crew can do any repairs or additions to their Rhino boat that may be required. 

EM BOUY EMERGENCY REPAIR – RHINO 590 EHD

We have supplied a Rhino 590 EHD to be used as the workboat for the EM BOUY Emergency repair operation engineered in 2010 by Wale Marine, our sister company.


See the boat in action:



In 2000 PetroSA / Mossgas installed the 55 m high EM control buoy together with its 2000 Te gravity base in the exposed southern ocean some 100 km off the southern tip of Africa.

10 years later after being incessantly battered by the fatigue loading caused by the seas that pass these exposed environments it was identified in a sub-sea survey that the head of the shackle pin on one of the three tethers had sheared off and was migrating outward endangering the installation, and on a second tether the hanger was cracked.
Rhino Marine’s sister company, Wale Marine, were commissioned by Petro SA and Cape Diving to engineer an emergency solution to rectify this precarious situation that could be implemented in the winter months when the heavy seas prevail.   These works would need to be executed from their small SOV (converted AHT) which had a saturation and air diving spread on board.
The operations to be carried out required a tough work boat that could operate in these harsh conditions. We supplied a Rhino 590 EHD to be used as the workboat for these operations and it proved to be an extremely valuable asset in completing the job successfully. Feedback from the crew operating the boat was only positive and they had they quoted that a conventional RIB, aluminium hull and GRP hull work boat would have struggled to carry out the job in the successful manner that the Rhino did.