Babcock and Franmarine to Deliver Critical Services to Royal Australian Navy

Babcock and Franmarine, a diversified marine and underwater service provider, have been awarded a $10 million contract to deliver critical underwater sustainment and biofouling management for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).

Since 2018, the partnership has been delivering its biofouling management capability to the RAN, supporting the reduction of invasive marine species, and helping to keep Australian waters safe and secure.

The new contract builds on the previous agreement and now includes supporting all major surface ships on both the East and West coasts. In addition to supporting the Asset Class Prime Contractor and Regional Maintenance Provider West programs, the new ships supported include the Hobart Class destroyers, Bay Class Landing Ship Dock, and Supply Auxiliary Oiler Replenishments.

The partnership has enabled the development of MarineStream™ technology, an innovative, integrated block-chain-enabled biofouling management system that provides tangible benefits to the RAN.

The cleaning system removes and captures harmful biofouling to prevent non-indigenous invasive marine species from being transferred via vessels, enabling ships to comply with all national and international biofouling regulations and standards.

Simon Spratt, Managing Director—Marine, Babcock Australasia, said: “Babcock’s partnership with Franmarine demonstrates our continued commitment to investing in local industry to deliver innovation and capability to the Royal Australian Navy.

“This is a great example of how Babcock continues to support small and medium enterprises. We remain committed to supporting and growing our sovereign supply chain, helping Australia to remain safe and secure.”

Adam Falconer-West, Franmarine CEO, added: “Franmarine is proud to have reached yet another significant milestone together with Babcock, with the MarineStream™ technology solution now used to manage biofouling across the major surface force.

“The program aims to protect marine biodiversity and reduce fuel consumption and associated greenhouse gas emissions, whilst other benefits include improved vessel performance and reduced corrosion rates.

“Considering that biofouling is a global issue and that the benefits of effectively managing it can be quantified using novel technology, we are excited by the further growth that the partnership with Babcock has the potential to realize.”

Franmarine, supported by Babcock, was recently awarded a grant by the West Australian Government to facilitate the establishment of a global operations center at Henderson that will employ an additional 66 employees in West Australia and create 74 new jobs over the life cycle of the project.