Dambimangari are the Care takers for the Warrorra people and their country. The country starts around a place called Cone Bay which is on the north side of the King Sound and finishes way up in the Prince Regent river. It includes places like the Buccaneer Archipelago, Talbot Bay, Montgomery Reef and the George water to name a few places.

Over the recent months Dambimangari Aboriginal Corporation (DAC) has been refitting the ranger/research vessel Manambadda to get ready for their own inhouse work and to supply a service to help researchers access Dambi country and for the Traditional Owners to maintain a connection to Country.

This vessel has been a long time in the making and the ranger team has put a huge amount of time into making the vessel work for the remoteness. With having a team of fully qualified skippers and crew that are mainly Warrorra people this project has a huge amount of excitement surrounding it.

The vessel is a 9.3 metre Air Rider powered by twin 325HP Suzuki outboards.

“It has a great range and can operate out on Dambi country for weeks without having to return to Derby for supplies but is small enough to hire for short periods of time,” DAC Marine Operations Officer Mitchell Castellarin explained. “We have a range of inhouse Dambi work to carry out throughout the season but the ranger team is looking for new contracts to help them manage the country they love. In future we hope that all research that is carried out on Dambi country can be done with the rangers.”