A Marina Bull boat handling forklift from Wiggins Lift Co.

A forklift with tynes up to six metres long will be used to move and stack boats at what is claimed to be South Africa's first ever boatshed, currently under construction.

Boating products supplier Knysna Marine has commissioned property development company Agripro and engineering consultancy Nieuwoudt & Kie to build the commercial boatshed that will house 342 boats in a four-storey building.

Agripro project manager Stefan Maree said a boat-handling forklift would be specially designed and adapted for removing boats from up to 5.4 metres down and stacking them up to nine metres high.

A boat storage facility.

Some boats would be stored in trailers. A boat's weight including trailer would be about 2,000 kg. A forklift with six metre-long forks and a load capacity of up to 6,000kg would be selected.

"The forklift must be able to handle the boat. It has to be very precise to stack boats into the racks so the boats don't fall over and suffer damage," Maree said.

The boat shed would be a pilot project in South Africa. Most of South Africa's boats were stored in marinas, open space or under roofs, which consumed space or exposed boats to the elements.

Maree said he was considering forklifts from Wiggins Lift Co Inc, of California, USA, Kalmar, of Stockholm, Sweden, and a South African Toyota dealer.

Knysna Marine was investing ZAR11 million (USD1.497 million) in the project.