Forgacs, Adi Bid For Navy Contract
Newcastle Herald
Tuesday July 10, 2001
TWO Newcastle bids are likely for a $500million Navy patrol boat contract announced by the Federal Government.
The Forgacs group has confirmed it will bid for the 15 vessels to be built at its shipyard at Tomago, while the recently privatised ADI has a bid based on its minehunter facility at Carrington.
Four more interstate companies are expected to tender for the contract, announced on Sunday, and which will create up to 600 jobs over four years.
The new Arrow class patrol boats will replace 15 Fremantle class vessels and will do most of their work in the seas off northern Australia.
The tenders are expected to open in the next two months and close before Christmas.
The Government is also talking about financing the ships using a radical `lease-back' arrangement, where the builder would own and maintain the vessels, receiving staggered payments from Canberra over about 20 years.
ADI spokesman Leigh Funston said the company had proved its shipbuilding capabilities in Newcastle in its work on the $1billion Huon class minehunter project.
The minehunters are made with glass-reinforced plastic (GRP) hulls, and about 300 people are working on the final two vessels, Diamantina and Yarra.
Defence sources say ADI would use GRP technology for its patrol boats but Mr Funston declined to confirm this, saying the company was `keeping its options open at this stage'.
Forgacs joint managing director Peter Burgess said the company had been working on its tender since January last year.
Mr Burgess said Forgacs was big enough to handle the contract by itself, although it had retained the services of KPMG to provide financial advice if the Government opted for `lease-back' financing.
Mr Burgess said the Tomago shipyard, which was founded as Tomago Slipways and later bought by the Australian Submarine Corporation (ASC) in South Australia, was an ideal site to build the fleet.
He said ASC was expected to bid for the contract, along with NQEA in North Queensland and the Austal and Tenix shipyards in Western Australia.
Forgacs would base its bid on a design by Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri, being used by the Italian navy.
The Fincantieri design was `the perfect length' at 52 metres, which was halfway between the Navy specification of 50-55 metres.
The patrol boats would carry a small 30mm gun on deck, but most of their work would be in `interdiction' rather than direct conflict. Editorial, Page 8
© 2001 Newcastle Herald
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