City Goes Full Steam Ahead

Newcastle Herald

Monday July 17, 2000

By GEMMA DALEY

NEWCASTLE will get a vote of confidence in its boat-building future this morning with the announcement of a major contract to build a State Government survey vessel.

Public Works and Services Minister Morris Iemma will visit Newcastle this morning to announce the new contract to a Hunter-based boat builder, believed to be Forgacs.

It is the first time the company, which has not been named but which is based in Carrington, has moved into the building of boats.

A spokesman for Mr Iemma said the company had previously been involved in boat repairs.

`This is a real vote of confidence in the future of boat building in the Hunter,' the spokesman said.

`The important thing is not the size of the contract but the ability of a company to move into a new area of expertise.'

The company has won a contract to build a vessel which will be used for surveys off the NSW South Coast by a Government agency.

The spokesman would not be drawn on whether there may be additional vessels.

`The contract has been awarded and work will start tomorrow,' he said yesterday.

`At this stage it is only for one vessel.'

In a separate injection to the city's shipbuilding future, another project is poised to get the final $800,000 from a $10million funding package to compensate for the BHP steelworks closure.

Regional Services Minister Senator Ian Macdonald announced the venture in February as part of the $10million Newcastle Structural Adjustment Fund but that company has not been named.

Earlier this year, Forgacs was encouraged to position itself to win federal contracts for 15 new naval patrol boats.

Defence industry pundits predict a competitive tender could be launched soon for the construction of the boats to replace the Royal Australian Navy's ageing Fremantle Class vessels.

The boats, which could enter service as early as next year, would have armaments similar to the RAN's Huon Class minehunters, each carrying a deck gun with a range of at least 5500 metres.