1 Nov 2022

Naval Ship Management awarded Regional Maintenance Provider West contract for the RAN

Naval Ship Management (NSM), a Babcock company, has been selected as the Regional Maintenance Provider (RMP) West for Defence’s new Regional Maintenance Centre (RMC) West, servicing the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).

The contract was formalised at a signing ceremony at HMAS Stirling on Garden Island in Western Australia on Thursday 13 October.

As the RMP West, NSM will manage the sustainment of RAN ships at Henderson in Western Australia over the next five years, starting with the Arafura Class Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs), with the possible expansion to the Anzac Class Frigates (FFH) and Auxiliary Oiler Replenishment (AOR) ships over the initial contract term.

Babcock Australasia’s Managing Director – Defence, Andy Davis, said NSM brings extensive experience in warship sustainment to deliver the RMP West in partnership with the RAN and local industry.

“We are proud to be awarded the RMP West contract and to be working in partnership with the Commonwealth Government to continue to deliver naval sustainment capability for Australia in the region,” Mr Davis said.

“Building upon our position as the premier warship sustainment company in Australia and New Zealand, we look forward to continuing to work closely with our Australian-based supplier network to deliver the RMP West scope of work.”

The establishment of RMP West will create nearly 150 full time direct jobs and hundreds of indirect roles and is predicted to generate up to $300M in economic benefits through local industry engagement across the contract term.

The initial RMP West contract is valued at $32M for the maintenance and sustainment of two OPVs and could increase to up to $300M with the inclusion of the sustainment of the six West-based Anzac Class Frigates in the initial five-year period.

RMC West is the second in a network of four RMCs to be implemented for the RAN’s Future Maritime Sustainment Model (FMSM) as part of Plan Galileo.

NSM’s General Manager, Gavin Stewart, said a national approach to driving innovation, capability and capacity through Australia’s maritime supply chain will be integral to delivering sovereign capability for the RAN.

“The partner Primes, suppliers and subcontractors that make up our valued supply chain are at the core of delivering a truly national capability for the sustainment of the RAN’s warships,” Mr Stewart said.

NSM and Babcock currently sustain the RAN’s Anzac Class Frigates, the Canberra-Class Landing Helicopter Docks and their associated Light Landing Crafts between Australia’s east and west coasts, making alignment across Australia central to their operations.

In September, Babcock and Atlantic & Peninsula Australia announced their partnership to respond to the Commonwealth’s Request For Tender for the Regional Maintenance Provider East (RMP-E).

Image: David Ruff, Chief Executive Officer Australasia, Andy Davis, Managing Director – Defence, Australia and CDRE Brad Smith.