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In-depth | DRY-DOCKS Floating dock opens in Western Australia


Te Australian Maritime Complex (AMC) in Henderson, Western Australia, recently commissioned a new and technologically advanced floating dock, as part of a four year, AUS$170 million upgrade of the facility.


capacity to lift 12,000tonne vessels, such as Collins class submarines, and other commercial vessels out of the water for service and maintenance work. The 99m long by 53m wide structure is also capable of providing the land transfer of docked vessels up to 3500tonnes, through a 512-wheeled self propelled modular transporter that can move vessels anywhere within the AMC with just one operator and a remote control. The floating dock was manufactured


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by Strategic Marine at its yards in Vietnam and Western Australia and the design allows for a second stage to be built that will adjoin the dock and provide an additional 133m of docking capacity. The second stage would allow the facility to operate seamlessly as one complete 232m unit. AMC is located around 15km south


of Fremantle and the new dock will be a part of its Common User Facility (CUF), which has been in operation since 2003. The CUF offers a location where projects in the marine, defence, oil and gas sectors can be executed using facilities and equipment available on a lease basis. The CUF is owned by the


Government of Western Australia and conceived as a way of providing access to fabrication, assembly and maintenance infrastructure to a wide variety of companies. It has also given overseas companies a way of accessing Australian contracts and industrial capacity without undue risk or expenditure. The background to the creation of the


new docking facility, within the existing CUF, is interesting. Australian defence plans in 2004 envisaged a long program of naval construction and maintenance


16 The pontoon for the new dock arrived in Western Australia from Vietnam on a heavy-lift ship.


quipped with fully automated bal last and manoeuvr ing systems, the dock has the


The new floating dock’s ballast control system is designed for both docking and offloading.


including air warfare destroyers, amphibious ships, replacement tankers, multi-role combatants and submarines. Existing facilities in Western Australia met demand at the time but could only partially meet projected future requirements. The managers of the


AMC’s CUF were tasked with examining options for facilities to support both newbuild and through life support. The engineering requirements for


docking that resulted from the study were somewhat unusual. Initially, graving dock, shiplift and floating dock


Shiprepair and Conversion Technology 2nd Quarter 2009


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