Western Australia’s highly regarded Australian Marine Complex (AMC), located south of Fremantle, has celebrated a major milestone.
This month marks the fifth anniversary of the AMC’s Common User Facility, which was established in 2003 to provide open-access infrastructure to service the marine, defence, resources and oil and gas industries.
Industry and Enterprise Minister Francis Logan said the Common User Facility had surpassed all expectations and was now a significant contributor to the State’s economic boom.
“Since it opened, the Common User Facility has generated in excess of $233million for the local economy and created more than 3,500 jobs from about 200 contracts,” Mr Logan said.
“Much of that work has involved building large infrastructure projects that service resources and oil and gas ventures in the State’s North-West – projects that might not have been possible without this important facility.”
The Minister said the resources and oil and gas industries accounted for 46 per cent of the income generated by the Common User Facility. The defence industry accounted for 35 per cent, while marine activities had generated 16 per cent of revenue.
Mr Logan said that since its inception, the Common User Facility had established an outstanding record for project delivery and was recognised as a centre of excellence for shipbuilding and repair and maintenance work for commercial and Royal Australian navy vessels.
Major achievements at the facility included:
· fabrication and assembly of a 2,000 tonne jacket structure, topside platform and piles for Eni Australia Ltd’s Blacktip natural gas project;
· fabrication and assembly of platforms and jackets for the Linda and John Brookes projects;
· fabrication and assembly of Australia’s first export oil and gas jacket for the Pohokura installation in New Zealand;
· fabrication and assembly of Natural Fuels Australia’s 420 biodiesel plant;
· modular construction of a 250m, 3,000 tonne iron ore loadout wharf for Fortescue Metals Group;
· assembly of two iron ore ship loaders for Rio Tinto export facility upgrades;
· assembly of conveyor system and ball mill crushers for the Boddington Gold Mine expansion;
· construction of the world’s longest aluminium superyacht Silver at 74m;
· a $60million conversion of commercial supply tanker Delos into the naval replenishment vessel HMAS Sirius; and
· weapons system upgrades to the Royal Australian Navy’s ANZAC frigate fleet.
Planning and Infrastructure Minister Alannah MacTiernan said while there were many important achievements so far, the future of the Common User Facility was even brighter.
“The WA Government has committed another $174million to infrastructure upgrades at the Common User Facility, which will further enhance its world-class capabilities and help capture an even greater share of major projects for the State,” Ms MacTiernan said.
The upgrades include construction of a 99m x 53m floating dock and a self propelled modular transporter system to transfer vessels, including Collins class submarines, and other heavy modules between land and water. Construction is due to be completed by the middle of 2009.
Minister Logan's office - 9222 8950
Minister MacTiernan’s office - 9213 6400
