In 1995, company founder Joe Akacich was asked to reconstruct “My Way,” a vessel that had suffered serious damage in a fire.

Joe had been working in the luxury boat industry since 1984, both as an engineer and skipper for high-profile owners, after having served in the Royal Australian Navy.

He assembled a team of tradesmen and yacht finishers to work on “My Way”. The result was the development of a luxury vessel of the highest standard.

This team brought together by Joe, who gained a degree in marine engineering while in the navy, formed the nucleus of Blackline Shipping Pty Ltd when it was established in 1995.

Since that time the company has been based at the Gold Coast City Marina in sunny Queensland, Australia.

Along with Blackline’s own sheds and workshops, the location gives the company access to world-class marina facilities at Australia’s largest working marina.

With 6,000 square metres of hard stand area, 200 marina berths, 100 boat hardstand cradles, two ship lifts (40 tonnes and 150 tonnes), fully enclosed dry storage and undercover refit bays, the marina offers both excellent facilities in boat maintenance and service, in addition to proximity to the amenities of Brisbane and Surfers Paradise.

On top of this, following the June 2006 integration into the Viking Industries Limited group, Blackline Shipping now has access to the world-class facilities of the Brisbane Marine Industry Park (BMIP), along with the expertise of Brisbane-based Marine Applications.

The park’s facilities include ship-lifting capability of up to 330 tonnes, deep water berths for vessels up to 45 metres and 20,000 square metres of hardstand, allowing Blackline to service much bigger vessels into the future.

Handling everything from dinghies to superyachts, Blackline’s staff has the expertise to cover the whole gambit of refit and repair. New general manager Steve Wallace, who helped found the company with Joe, has countless miles under sail and is a talented boat builder too.