Australian shipbuilder Forgacs, through its parent company Civmec Construction and Engineering Pty Ltd, marked the first day of construction of their purpose built ship and module construction, ship repair and maintenance facility.
The 29,000 square meter, 18-storey high, facility is an investment of AU$80 million according to Australian minister for defense Christopher Pyne.
A ground-breaking ceremony was held in December 2016 to announce the commencement of development for the construction, with the then Premier, Hon Colin Barnett MLA, turning the first sod.
Following the December ground breaking ceremony, Civmec has been working on the detailed design elements of the facility with the local branch of the global engineering firm, GHD Engineering. Today’s event is to mark the start of construction for what Civmec says will be Australia’s largest undercover shipbuilding facility.
“The facility will allow us to increase our Henderson workforce by an extra 1000 people, including at least 100 apprentices,” Civmec’s executive chairman James Fitzgerald said.
Managing director of Forgacs, Mike Deeks CSC, added: “We are excited to commence construction of our state-of-the-art shipbuilding and maintenance facility which will be large enough to house complete Air Warfare Destroyers or Frigates as well as Offshore Patrol Vessels for construction or maintenance.”