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Australian Coast News

13 Feb 2024

DOF Group Secures Over $20M for Asia Pacific Projects

(Credit: DOF Group)

Norwegian offshore vessel owner DOF Group has secured a new contract and a contract extension for two of its vessels that will be employed in the Asia Pacific region.The latest contract secured for the region is related to Skandi Hercules vessel that will see it fully utilized off the Australian coast into the third quarter of 2024.The contracted scope includes project management and engineering, logistics support and execution of various inspection, maintenance, and repair (IMR)…

19 Dec 2023

DOF Set to Bring in $30M From Two New Projects

CSV Skandi Hercules (Credit: DOF Group)

Norwegian offshore vessel operator DOF Group has secured two new projects – one in the North Sea and the other in Asia Pacific region – whose combined revenue is expected to bring in $30 million to the company. The first contract for DOF covers engineering, procurement, removal and disposal (EPRD) for a North Sea operator, including the project management, engineering, logistics and execution of an FPSO cessation project. According to DOF, it will disconnect, transport and pre-moor the floating unit, and retrieve and recycle the mooring system.

07 Aug 2023

Australian Police Charges Two More Over Attempted Cocaine Import

Images courtesy of AFP

An Australian man and woman have been arrested for their alleged roles in attempting to import 850kg (1,874 pounds) of cocaine into Australia hidden on a bulk cargo carrier.Police allege a Dianella man, 37, and a Doubleview woman, 32, were a part of the Australian-based syndicate responsible for collecting the drugs and facilitating the logistics of the importation.Police have seized about A$90,000 cash allegedly hidden in the bathroom cupboard of the man’s home and five mobile…

24 Oct 2022

Containership Loses Power Off Australian Coast

(Photo: Svitzer Australia / AMSA)

A Singaporean-flagged containership went adrift after suffering a power failure before midnight on October 20 off Australia's New South Wales coast.The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said it tasked the specialized emergency towing vessel ETV Svitzer Glenrock from Newcastle to provide towing assistance to the disabled box ship Rio Madeira, which was en route from Singapore with 27 crewmembers on board. The Svitzer Glenrock arrived at the location of the stricken containership about 75 kilometers south of Narooma at 3 p.m.

13 May 2022

Australia Says Chinese Spy Ship's Presence off West Coast 'Concerning'

People’s Liberation Army-Navy (PLA-N) Intelligence Collection Vessel Haiwangxing operating off the north-west shelf of Australia. (Photo: Australia Department of Defense)

A Chinese intelligence ship was tracked off Australia's west coast within 50 nautical miles of a sensitive defense facility, Australia said on Friday, raising concern amid an election campaign about China's behavior in the region.Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the Chinese navy vessel was not in Australian territorial waters but its presence was "concerning"."It is clearly an intelligence ship and they are looking at us and we're keeping a close eye on them," he told reporters.Australia…

24 Aug 2021

Containership Captain Charged Over Cable Strike in Australia

The master of a containership has been charged in Australia after his vessel allegedly dragged anchor through a protected zone and damaged a subsea communications cable off the West Australian coast. The Ukrainian national is facing up to three years imprisonment.A section of the Australia Singapore Cable in the Perth Submarine Cable Protection Zone, approximately 10 kilometers offshore from City Beach, was disabled early on August 1, 2021, and allegations that a passing vessel had damaged the cable were reported to the Australian Federal Police (AFP) on August 3.According to the AFP, the Maersk Surabaya had been anchored approximately 500 meters from the protection zone…

23 Aug 2021

DOF Subsea Secures Work on Several Offshore Campaigns in Asia Pacific

Credit. Steven Watkins

Norwegian subsea support vessel operator said DOF Subsea said Monday it had won several contracts awards in the Asia Pacific region.According to DOF Subsea, the contracts provide "significant" utilization for resources and vessels in Q3 and Q4 2021 and secure a "solid" backlog into the first half of 2022. "Onshore works are underway for several offshore campaigns that will utilize the CSV Skandi Hercules and the onshore and offshore teams from Q3 2021 into Q1 2022," DOF Subsea…

16 Jun 2021

Dongara Marine Delivers Its First Rescue RIB

(Photo: Dongara Marine)

The first newbuild rigid inflatable boat (RIB) built by Dongara Marine has entered into service, heralding a raft of government and RIB contracts for the Western Australian boatbuilder.The newbuild, Cape Rose, was completed at the end of last year and has been operating for Marine Rescue Shark Bay since delivery to Denham in early in 2021. It has replaced a response vessel that had serviced the Western Australia (WA) coastline for more than 20 years, both with the group and previously…

09 Apr 2020

First YM Efficiency Containers Retrieved

The first container loaded onto the MV Pride contains furniture products.(Photot: AMSA)

Work is underway to retrieve dozens of containers lost from a containership off the coast of Australia, with the first boxes raised to the surface this week. The first container was recovered from the seafloor on Monday using a hydraulic crane and rigging, remotely operated underwater vehicles (ROV) and a specially manufactured steel basket, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said. Another two boxes were lifted in the days following.The recovered containers are among more than 80 lost from containership YM Efficiency in the Tasman Sea…

23 May 2019

Race Against WW II Shipwrecks Oil Spill

A remediation programme to protect island ecosystems from damage caused by oil pollution from World War II wrecks sunk in the Pacific Ocean will launch in Newcastle Harbour today (Thursday 23 May).The programme is the result of a partnership between Major Projects Foundation, the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) – an intergovernmental Pacific regional organisation made up of 26 members – and the University of Newcastle. It will see expert teams of scientists, engineers and marine archaeologists work with Pacific island communities to meet the challenges posed by the degradation of wrecks.There are in excess of 3…

26 Dec 2017

World's Largest Vessel Set to Sail in 2018

In 2018,  Shell's huge floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) Prelude, the world's largest vessel, will begin its job of extracting and processing gas at sea, reported CNBC. The 488-meter-long and 74-meter-wide floating facility left the shipyard in South Korea in late June and reached the Australian waters in late July. Currently, the vessel, which is almost one-third of a mile long with a deck longer than four soccer fields,  sits at its first location, Shell's Prelude gas field, around 125 miles north off the Western Australian coast. The Prelude facility weather vanes 360 degrees around a turret, moored in 248 meters of water. Three…

21 Aug 2017

HMAS Ballarat Returns Home

HMAS Ballarat has sailed into her home port of Fleet Base West in Rockingham, Western Australia, to a large gathering of family and friends after completing a three month deployment to South East Asia and; participating in Exercise TALISMAN SABER off the Australian coast. The deployment, which began in early April, was part of the Australian Government’s efforts to promote regional stability and improve interoperability between regional partners and included port visits to Zhanjiang, Singapore, Sattahip, Bangkok, Da Nang and Kota Kinabalu. Ballarat’s Commanding Officer, Commander Paul Johnson said that the deployment facilitated great opportunities to enhance the Royal Australian Navy’s interoperability with regional partners…

07 Aug 2017

Crashed US Military Aircraft Found off Australian Coast

Royal Australian Navy (RAN) survey ship HMAS Melville located the submerged aircraft (File photo: Royal Australian Navy)

An Australian Navy survey ship has located a U.S. military aircraft that crashed off the Australian northeast coast at the weekend and left three Marines missing, Defence Minister Marise Payne said on Monday. The navy divers will conduct remotely operated underwater vehicle operations before considering sending down divers, Payne said in a statement. The U.S. Marine Corps had suspended a search for the three Marines missing since the MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft crashed while on regular operations on Saturday.

22 Jun 2017

AUSINDEX Strengthens Ties Between Aus, Indian Navies

HMAS Newcastle’s capabilities proved invaluable during a complex warfare scenario involving Indian Navy Ships Shivalik and Kamorta during the Australia-India Exercise (AUSINDEX) held off the Western Australian coast. The ships headed out to sea, after a short harbour phase, to focus on the navies’ interoperability and improvement on their war fighting skills. Speaking from the bridge of Newcastle, Commanding Officer Commander Mark Sirois said AUSINDEX was an excellent opportunity to see both navies working together. “I had a good conversation with the commanding officers of the Indian warships and they were extremely impressed with the professionalism of our sailors.

13 Jun 2017

Indian Warships Arrive Australia for Maritime Drill

Three Indian warships sailed into Fremantle to participate in a week-long naval exercise off the Western Australian coast. Exercise Australia India is a regular bilateral maritime exercise aimed at developing a deeper understanding and cooperation between the two navies. Commander Australian Fleet, Rear Admiral Stuart Mayer, said the Exercise was a concrete example of India and Australia working more closely together to increase maritime security. “Australian and India share a commitment to a stable and prosperous Indian Ocean region,” Rear Admiral Mayer said. “Exercise Australian India is a terrific opportunity to increase our interoperability and enhance the professional interaction of two great navies.

13 Apr 2017

Warship Open Day in Cairns

The people of Cairns will have a rare opportunity to tour HMAS Parramatta comes alongside Trinity Wharf and opens its gangway to the public on Monday, 17 April, says a press release of Royal Australian Navy. One of the sailors who will be on board to show people around is former Cairns local, Able Seaman Boatswains Mate Thomas Ketchell. “I am extremely proud to be a member of ship’s company in HMAS Parramatta and I have been given some fantastic opportunities to see not only Australiabut the world,” he said. Able Seaman Ketchell’s role includes seamanship, gunnery, weapons handling, boats and navigation. Parramatta is one of the most potent warships in the world, capable of conducting air, surface and undersea warfare simultaneously.

29 Mar 2017

Preparing for Deep Sea Command

Commanding a submarine is arguably one of the toughest jobs in the world so training for the role it is justifiably challenging, preparing those who spend their days in the deep with the skills to lead their teams. Seven prospective undersea commanding officers from the United States Navy have joined their Australian colleages on the Submarine Command Course, conducted in Australia biennially. This year it coincided with a visit by the USS Oklahoma City, a Los Angeles class attack submarine, to Fleet Base West. Shortly after arriving in Australia, the officers toured their Australian host boat for the conduct of the exercise, HMAS Farncomb, which was also berthed alongside.

19 Mar 2017

Parramatta Saves Yachtsmen in Southern Ocean

Australian Navy frigate, HMAS Parramatta has rescued three South African sailors from a stricken yacht approximately 1,300 kilometres southwest of Cape Leeuwin in Western Australia. The three yachtsmen of the 13-metre yacht activated an emergency response beacon late on 17 March, when their mast was lost in rough seas on a journey from South Africa to New Zealand. It was their intention to abandon the vessel. The resuce was coordinated by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority and to get to the sailors as quickly and safely as possible, the warship was retasked to sail to the yacht’s position. Parramatta was at sea off the Western Australian coast…

17 Mar 2017

Ship Values Successful Women

International Women's Day at sea onboard HMAS Success was business as usual with key positions held by female officers and sailors during replenishment activities. New Zealand's HMNZS Te Kaha was the Australian battle tanker's thirsty recipient on 8 March, while the ships were conducting intensive war fighting training off the Western Australian coast. Commanding Officer Success Commander Grant Zilko highlighted that gender was irrelevant to making his ship run smoothly and complete her missions. “We recognise equal opportunities, rights and responsibilities of both the men and women of HMAS Success,” he said. With a ship's company of more than 200, the logistics vessel comes in at 18,000 tonnes fully loaded.

15 Mar 2017

Adelaide’s Fighting Edge Tested

Royal Australian Navy’s amphibious ship HMAS Adelaide lead from the front during the recent Exercise OCEAN EXPLORER. Exercising task group operations off the Western Australian coast, the landing helicopter dock was the centrepiece to war-fighting scenarios. En-route to the ‘war-zone’, the crews of Australian, New Zealand and Spanish Navies experienced realistic attacks by ‘enemy’ cruise missiles from aircraft and ground-based locations during the high-end warfare serials. During the first air-strike, HMA Ships Darwin and Melbourne joined the Spanish Armada’s ESPS Cristobal Colon, in protecting Adelaide by neutralising the incoming cruise missiles and an aircraft.

07 Mar 2017

Multi-Nation Naval Exercise in Australia

Warships from Australia, Italy, New Zealand and Spain are currently exercising off the Western Australian coast honing war-fighting skills and enhancing joint operating procedures. The multi-national maritime task group, consisting of more than 17 ships and aircraft, is encountering fictitious threats from the air, on the surface and underwater to train personnel with skills they need in battle. Amphibious giant, HMAS Adelaide is the Command and Control platform and is the floating office for the Officer Conducting the Exercise and Commander of the Task Group, Commodore Mal Wise. He said that the exercise was an opportunity to take the…

24 Feb 2017

Navies Training to Fight off the Western Australian Coast

More than 17 ships and aircraft are descending on the Western Australian coast for one of the largest maritime warfare exercises held by the Royal Australian Navy. The inaugural Exercise OCEAN EXPLORER will include some international participants, adding the opportunity to practice war fighting with language, customs and technology differences. The Spanish Armada’s ESPS Cristobal Colon, as well as New Zealand’s HMNZ Ships Te Kaha and Endeavour and, for a brief period, Italian frigate ITS Caribiniere will all integrate into the Australian scenarios. Exercise Director Captain Jim Hutton said the activity aimed to train ships to work together in a series of complex and dynamic warfare scenarios.

24 Feb 2017

Aussie Navy Trains to fight

More than 17 ships and aircraft are descending on the Western Australian coast for one of the largest maritime warfare exercises held by the Royal Australian Navy. The inaugural Exercise Ocean Explorer will include international participants, adding the opportunity to practice war fighting with language, customs and technology differences. The Spanish Armada’s ESPS Cristobal Colon, New Zealand’s HMNZ Ships Te Kaha and Endeavour and, for a brief period, Italian frigate ITS Caribiniere will all integrate into the Australian scenarios. Exercise Director, Captain Jim Hutton said the activity aimed to train ships to work together in a series of complex and dynamic warfare scenarios.