Strategic Marine

Strategic Marine Pty Ltd is a Western Australian-based shipbuilding company with facilities at Henderson in Western Australia, Vung Tau in Vietnam, Tuas in Singapore and Mazatlán in Mexico.

History

Strategic Marine had its origins in Geraldton Boat Builders Pty Ltd, a Western Australian based aluminium shipbuilder. The company incorporated in 2001.
Since its incorporation, Strategic Marine has focussed on offshore crew boats and support vessels, as well as high-speed patrol boats for defence, police and coastguard use.^[1]

Operations

Henderson, Western Australia
Strategic Marine is based at the Australian Marine Complex located at Henderson, 23 km south of the Perth CBD.^[2]

Since 2001, the Henderson yard has produced over 100 patrol launches and seven crew-boats for a diverse range of clients. The yard has recently undergone significant expansion, having taken on a number of senior employees with additional technical skills, particularly in steel shipbuilding. These skills will be employed to fit out the 99m floating dry dock on order from the Australian Marine Complex^[3] on delivery of its base pontoon from the company's Vietnam yard.

Strategic Marine is in the process of constructing a new 23x43m shed at the yard, and is also planning to build a new administration headquarters in the Henderson facility in the near future.^[2]

Mazatlán, Mexico

Strategic Marine's facility in Mazatlán, on the west coast of Mexico, is a joint venture between Strategic Marine and Mexican company Servicios Navales E Industriales (SENI). The joint venture was established following the awarding of a contract to deliver two 52m aluminium crew-boats to Blue Marine Shipping for its Pemex supply contract in the Gulf of Mexico.^[4]

Tuas, Singapore

Strategic Marine's facility at Tuas in Singapore was established in 2005 following orders for the company's first two 40m crew-boats, Borcos Firdaus 1^[5] and Borcos Firdaus 2^[6] for Malaysian company Syarikat Borcos Shipping Sdn Bhd.
The yard also has orders from Dutch shipping company Smit International^[7] for three 22.1m crew/pilot vessels, as well as orders for four 31m crew boats from Indonesia's Baruna Raya Logistics.
The Singapore yard recently embarked on the construction of six 40m crew-boats, two of which have already been sold to Pilbara-based marine services company Samson Maritime Pty Ltd.
The Tuas yard has a full-time management and shipbuilding staff of over 120.^[8]

Vung Tau, Vietnam

Strategic Marine's facility at the Dong Xuyen Industrial Zone at Vung Tau in Vietnam was purchased in 2007, and now employs more than 1,100 staff including fabricators, welders, production supervisors and management staff.

The facility has manufactured the steel base pontoon of a floating dry dock for the Australian Marine Complex, and has won orders for two 143m Diving Support Vessels and one Well Stimulation Vessel from Singapore company Marfield Limited.^[9]

The yard is also building a 23.9m compact tug from the Port of Napier in New Zealand. The Vung Tau facility employs more than 1,100 staff.^[10]

Awards

In 2007 Strategic Marine was awarded the Australian Chamber of Commerce Vietnam's ANZ Business Excellence Award.^[11]

In 2008 Strategic Marine's Managing Director, Mr Mark Newbold, was awarded the WA Business News Rising Star Award^[12] and the Western Region Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award in the "products" category.^[13]

The Ernst and Young award citation reads:

When Mark Newbold established Strategic Marine in 2001, his ambitious goal was to build a global ship building company with manufacturing operations across the world. Seven years on, he is close to achieving that dream, with the company's shipyards employing almost 1,500 staff in Singapore, Vietnam, Mexico and Western Australia. While the ship building and maritime services provider currently fulfils over 125 orders worth over 210 million US dollars, Mark's plan is to further develop the business and take on the European market.

While waiting to take on Europe, Strategic Marine's order book is bulging with 130 orders won over the past year worth over US$260 million. Today, this ship building and maritime service provider, which specialises in developing high speed aluminium patrol vessels and offshore service vessels, has a significant and ever growing international market share.

Prior to establishing Strategic Marine in 2001, Mark was the Executive Director of Geraldton Boat Builders (GBB) and his experiences in that business convinced him that there was more opportunity for a business like Strategic Marine in Asia as opposed to Australia, provided the company had its own, more cost-effective shipyards overseas. In 2005 a Singapore shipyard was acquired and is developing the reputation of delivering vessels well ahead of schedule. The company also has a Vietnam shipyard, with over 1000 staff working to a full order book, including a $62 million contract for the Western Australian Government.

While Strategic Marine has traditionally focused on aluminium workboats and oilfield service vessels, the Vietnamese yard has also been chosen to spearhead the company's strategy of diversifying into steel-hulled ships. Mark's global strategy has also seen the development of new markets in the Americas, with Europe soon to follow. With next year's turnover predicted at over $150 million, Strategic Marine is well on the path to phenomenal global success.^[13]

In October 2008 Strategic Marine won the "Large Advanced Manufacturer Export Award" category of the Western Australia Industry and Export Awards. .^[14]

Civilian and commercial vessels

Strategic Marine designs and builds a range of civilian and commercial vessels, including:

• Offshore service vessels
• Crew boats
• Tugs
• Anchor handling tug supply vessels
• Diving support vessels
• Well stimulation vessels
• Platform supply vessels
• Barges
• Floating dry docks
• Other workboats

Civilian and commercial customers of Strategic Marine include Samson Maritime, Marfield, the Port of Napier, Blue Marine, Smit International, Baruna Raya Logistics, the Australian Marine Complex, Syarikat Borcos Shipping, Svitzer and EMAS Offshore.

Defence, police and coastguard vessels

Strategic Marine designs and builds a range of defence, police and coastguard vessels, including

• Patrol boats • Fisheries protection vessels
• Landing craft

Defence, police and coastguard operators of Strategic Marine vessels include the Singapore Police Coast Guard,^[15] the Royal Malaysian Police,^[16] the Queensland Police, the Australian Defence Force,^[17] and fisheries protection units of the Queensland Government and Western Australian Government.

Some 186 defence, police and coastguard vessels have been built for Australia, Nigeria, Singapore and Malaysia .^[18]

External links

• Strategic Marine Website
• Australian Marine Complex Website
• Wikimapia view of Australian Marine Complex
• Wikimapia view of Dong Xuyen Industrial Zone, Vietnam
• Wikimapia view of Mazatlan, Mexico
• Wikimapia view of Tuas, Singapore

References