Aberdeen Company Opens Lifeboat Training Center in Australia

An Aberdeen-based company is behind the first freefall lifeboat-training centre to open for business in Australia. Survival Craft Inspectorate Ltd (Survival Craft) has collaborated with Australia’s Industrial Foundation for Accident Prevention (IFAP) to establish the new facility in Fremantle, which was formally opened by Western Australia premier Colin Barnett.

Also attending the celebrations on 15 October were Survival Craft managing director Angus Campbell, Company Secretary Catherine Campbell and global business development manager Derek Sinclair, as well as local government representatives and oil and gas executives.

The centre ¾ a 50-50 venture between Survival Craft and IFAP ¾ is located within an extension to IFAP’s Offshore and Maritime Training Centre adjacent to the Port of Fremantle and with direct access into Rous Head Harbour.

It already has OPITO approval, with STCW approvals in the pipeline, and is filling a significant gap in the international training market as until now the nearest comparable centre for Australia-based crew was in Malaysia.

The centre is expected to attract business from both oil and gas operators and merchant shipping with freefall lifeboats installed on their vessels. There is also a conventional lifeboat and articulated davit system of the type often installed on floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) systems, floating storage and offloading (FSO) vessels, and standby vessels.

Campbell said: “We have invested more than £2 million to date in the new facility and anticipate it will generate revenues exceeding the investment over the first five years.

“We also intend introducing further courses to complement the core lifeboat training and are confident these will deliver another £300,000 over the same period.”

Survival Craft has already installed similar equipment at Glasgow Nautical College and at the National Maritime College of Ireland.