Marine and defence
Showcasing the strengths and capabilities of Western Australia's marine and defence industry.
- Introduction
- Key strengths and capabilities
- Australian Marine Complex
- Australian Marine Complex business directory
- Contact us
Introduction
Western Australia (WA) is host to a world-class shipbuilding industry that is responsible for approximately half of Australia’s commercial shipbuilding production.
The State also produces military and para-military vessels for the Australian Government and other navies, police, coastguard or maritime security agencies around the world.
WA also leads the world in the design and construction of customised light – weight, high speed aluminium vessels for both the commercial and military markets.
Key strengths and capabilities
Defence sector
The defence sector in WA comprises of approximately 4300 full time defence personnel and 1700 reservists, supported by approximately 3000 first tier prime contractor industry people.
Defence directly spends around A$800 million per annum in WA on goods and services provided by WA companies.
A significant feature of the defence industry sector in WA involves the through life support, repair and upgrade of the Collins class submarines and ANZAC frigates homeported at Fleet Base West. The Western Australian industry is also active in perusing work associated with new naval shipbuilding projects.
Superyacht sector
WA has a number of world-class superyacht manufacturers producing vessels for international clients.
The high-end luxury yacht market is seen as a high growth sector by local industry and the government alike.
WA is working to develop a significant superyacht repair and refit capability to capitalise on the anticipated growth in visiting superyachts to the region in coming years.
Shipbuilding
WA leads the world in the construction of high speed, light-weight vessels.
WA's shipbuilding industry centred within the Australian Marine Complex (AMC) also excels in building luxury superyachts, rescue, patrol, fishing, paramilitary and offshore supply vessels for burgeoning local and export markets.
As Australia's largest commercial Shipbuilding Precinct, accounting for approximately half of Australia’s shipbuilding production, the Shipbuilding Precinct in the AMC has produced vessels valued in excess of A$3 billion over the last decade. Some 95 per cent of these vessels were built for demanding export markets.
WA also supplies about 25 per cent of the international market for lightweight, high-speed ferries. These vessels are produced in the 25 - 127 metre range, catering for a wide range of uses including vehicle and troop transport.
WA is the frontier of light-weight aluminium shipbuilding technology, attracting the most demanding of seagoing commercial and military patrons.
Oil and gas services
The oil and gas industry is of vital importance to the Western Australian economy.
Over the next eight years the proposed project expenditure in oil and gas developments within the State exceeds $50 billion. It is the Government’s intention to capture the opportunity this represents to develop WA as a regional hub for the oil and gas industry, concentrating on the subsea and gas service sectors.
Australian Marine Complex
The Australian Marine Complex (AMC) is a world-class Centre of Excellence for manufacturing, fabrication, assembly, technology, repair and maintenance servicing activities in the marine, defence and resource industries.
Located on the shores of Cockburn Sound, 23 kilometres south of Perth in WA, the AMC has been developed to facilitate and enhance the opportunities created by the clustering of these industry sectors.
Home to the largest marine industry in Australia, WA has already established international credentials for repair, maintenance and construction of quality ships and infrastructure for offshore oil and gas production, plus a broad range of world-class marine services.
The AMC-Common User Facility (CUF) is Australia’s leading integrated industrial estate servicing the marine, defence, mining and petroleum sectors with a deepwater port. It is owned by the Western Australian Government and is not dedicated to one user or even one industry but benefits from being part of a marine, defence and energy services cluster with established engineering and shipbuilding precincts nearby. Also, the facility is sufficiently large for a number of different projects to be managed concurrently.
The CUF is managed by Western Australian asset management company AMC Management (WA) Pty Ltd who is responsible for maintenance of the facility and coordinates activities among the various Users on site. the department and LandCorp, the State land development agency, work together with the Facility Manager to market the facility to national and international clients involved in the naval, mining and oil and gas sectors.
The CUF includes:
- Dredged, deepwater harbour
- ‘State of the art’ fabrication hall with 24 hour all-weather access
- On site project offices, workers amenities
- Warehouses and 40 hectares of laydown and construction area
- Load out wharf
- Marine services wharf with notional capacities of between 3,000 and 15,000 tonnes respectively.
For detailed information on how to invest, relocate or undertake operations at this exciting location, please visit the Australian Marine Complex website (www.australianmarinecomplex.com.au/).
Australian Marine Complex business directory
The Australian Marine Complex website has an online business directory that provides contact details and website addresses of companies specialising in shipbuilding and fabrication, and those providing products and services to the industry. For more information visit the Australian Marine Complex website (www.australianmarinecomplex.com.au/).
Contact us
For more information on WA's marine and defence industry please contact us.