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Australia’s 8 ANZAC Class (MEKO 200 ANZ) frigates entered service from 1996 – 2006. In June 2012, Australia signed a repair and maintenance contract for its fleet that has an expected value of around A$ 300 million over its 5-year term, with the potential for additional rolling year-on-year contract extensions out to 10 years. The contract will cover a wide variety of systems, but Australia’s DoD says they won’t involve the the major radar and air defense system upgrades trialed on HMAS Perth, which are about to be added to the other 7 ships.
This contract with Babcock Pty Ltd and UGL Infrastructure Pty Ltd’s joint venture, Naval Ship Management (Australia), is a change and a milestone for the Royal Australian Navy. It will be the 1st of a series of long term, performance-based contracts for the repair and maintenance of the Navy’s major surface ships, based on fixed fees plus bonuses for performance. Australia’s DoD has been stung by revelations of poor maintenance on its ships, and found that the burdens of event by event tenders were creating more problems than they were solving. In the wake of its Rizzo Report, they were looking for a better model for ship repair and maintenance jobs. Australia’s government wants more cost-certainty, more long-term familiarity with its ships, and better performance. Industry wants more predictability, certainty and stability, so it can retain skilled people and make investments. Time will tell if either or both parties end up getting what they want, but these new arrangements are the 1st step. Australian DoD | UGL Ltd. [PDF].
