Civmec hails contract win

Civmec’s success in landing a key role in the $4 billion offshore patrol vessels project has been hailed as a major step forward for WA industry, with its new $80 million facility set to play a key part in the program.

Last week, German designer Luerssen contracted Henderson-based Civmec to assemble and deliver 10 vessels for the OPV project, including the fabrication of steel for all 12 vessels set to be built in the program.

Civmec subsidiary Forgacs Marine and Defence managing director Mike Deeks said it was very pleasing for Civmec to reach this stage after commercial negotiations with Luerssen and Henderson-based rivals Austal.

“It is a major step forward for the WA marine and defence industry,” he said. “The new facilities will be around for in excess of 50, maybe even 100 years and we see this as an opportunity to grow jobs that are enduring jobs which will potentially hand over from generation to generation.”

Mr Deeks said while it was difficult to put a number on the jobs that could be generated until Civmec understood the full scope of the project, there would be three vessels under construction at any given time during the height of production.

Civmec will cut the first steel on the project and ship it to South Australia for a December quarter start on the first two OPVs, with the other 10 to be built in Henderson from 2020.

In the meantime, Civmec will continue to build its new $80 million facility, which will stand as high as a 20-storey building.

“The first major sort of construction activity was to dig out 300,000 tonnes of dirt to bring the level down ... (now) we’ve started erecting the first of the two main sheds and started piling for the next stage beyond that,” Mr Deeks said.