Ship servicing boosted by $64 million floating dock

Source: The West

$64m floating dry dock that could lift vessels of up to 12,000 tonnes would be built in WA, the State Government said yesterday.

Vessels lifted by the floating dry dock also could be towed on to land, Planning and Infrastructure Minister Alannah MacTiernan said.

Strategic Marine would build the dock at the Australian Marine Complex at Henderson and planned to complete it by October 2009.

The dock could lift vessels as big as a navy destroyer and would be used for repair and maintenance of the Royal Australian Navy Collins class submarines and ANZAC frigates. It also would service the growing super yacht industry, Ms MacTiernan said.

Strategic Marine chairman Mark Newbold said vessels servicing oil and gas projects on the North-West Shelf also were interested in using the floating dock for repairs and maintenance because it was closer than facilities in Singapore.

The floating dock is one of only three in Australia and will be owned by the State Government, which will lease it to shipbuilding companies that use the AMC facilities, which opened in 2003. More than 150 contracts for vessels have been completed at the complex, creating 1680 jobs. The dock is in a $174 million State Government expansion of the complex.

Ms MacTiernan said the improvements were vital in ensuring a diverse range of industries in WA.

“We see that the State Government has to invest in these high-tech industries to make sure that we have got jobs and opportunities into the future,” she said.

SAM RILEY