Frigate firm willing to share work

Press, 27 February 1989, Page 11

Frigate firm willing to share work

NZPA Sydney The Melbourne-based consortium bidding for the $6.6 billion Anzac frigate project, Amecon Ltd, says it is prepared to share the work with New Zealand and its rival New South Wales consortium.

The 12 frigates proposed in the project could be built in “grand modules” or to bare hull stage with the Newcastle dockyard and New Zealand sharing the work, said Amecon’s manging director, Dr John White. The proposal would bring jobs and millions of dollars to Newcastle, said Dr White who did not specify what New Zealand’s involvement would be.

"The modules built at Newcastle would be complete sections of ships which would be taken to Williamstown in Melbourne by barge for consolidation,” he said.

“Amecon has proposed in its tender to extend the Newcastle facility to build complete hulls should the Department of Defence prefer two sources of sup-

ply. “To talk of winners and losers in this project is quite wrong. Amecon will place work in every Australian state and Newcastle in particular.” A proposal by the New South Wales consortium, Australian Warship Systems, to build three of the frigates in Whangarei and nine in Newcastle, was described this month by the Prime Minister, Mr Lange, as "totally unrealistic.”

Puzzled A.W.S. executives responded by asserting that their consortium’s option was not only technically feasible but also the most cost-effective means of achieving the required 30 per cent content for New Zealand industry. The proposal involved building three Dutch Mclass frigates to full platform completion in a joint venture with McConnell Dowell Corp, which has a 15 per cent stake in A.W.S., and Whangarei Engineering before sailing them to Australia for final fitting.