The Australian Marine Complex (AMC) is a marine industry precinct located at

Henderson, Western Australia Henderson is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located within the City of Cockburn. History The suburb of Henderson, along with the suburb of Naval Base to its south, comprises land resumed by the Commonwealth Government in 1915 for defence ...

, south of the

Perth CBD Perth () is the capital city of Western Australia. It is the fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The world's most isolated major city by certain criteria, Perth is part of the ...

. It is located on

Cockburn Sound Cockburn Sound () is an inlet of the Indian Ocean on the coast of Western Australia. It extends from the south of the mouth of the Swan River at Fremantle for about to Point Peron near Rockingham. The total area of the sound is about . It ...

Overview

The complex was established in 2003 when the Common User Facility, owned by the Western Australian Government, commenced operations. It is home to approximately 150 businesses in five designated zones. The facility is operated by Western Australian's state government owned property developer

DevelopmentWA DevelopmentWA is a land development agency of the Western Australian government. It was formed in September 2019 as a merger of the Metropolitan Redevelopment Authority and the Western Australian Land Authority, then known as Landcorp. Develo ...

and AMC Management (WA) Pty Ltd. The complex is divided into shipbuilding, technology, support industry, fabrication and recreational boating precincts. The recreational boating precinct, at the northern end of the complex, consists of the Jervoise Bay boat harbour. The fabrication precinct is located at the southern end of the complex, while the shipbuilding precinct is located along the coast between the two. The technology and support precincts are located inland, to the east. The shipbuilding precinct serves as a maintenance facility for the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the navy, naval branch of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (Australia), Chief of Navy (CN) Vice admiral (Australia), Vice Admiral Mark Hammond (admiral), Ma ...

's Collins-class submarines and Anzac-class frigates, being located across Cockburn Sound from on

Garden Island A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate both ...

. Major tenants of the facility include

Austal Austal Limited is an Australian-based global ship building company and defence prime contractor that specialises in the design, construction and support of defence and commercial vessels. Austal's product range includes naval vessels, High-spee ...

BAE Systems Australia BAE Systems Australia, a subsidiary of BAE Systems, is one of the largest defence contractors in Australia. It was formed by the merger of British Aerospace Australia and GEC-Marconi Systems and expanded by the acquisitions of Armor Holdings ...

and

Civmec Civmec Limited is a cross-listed Australian-Singaporean public company involved in the construction, engineering and shipbuilding industries. Headquartered in Perth, Western Australia, it specialises in fabrication and construction for the oil a ...

. In 2010, the floating dock ''Yargan'' commenced operations at the Australian Marine Complex, ''Yargan'' being the

Noongar The Noongar (, also spelt Noongah, Nyungar , Nyoongar, Nyoongah, Nyungah, Nyugah, and Yunga ) are Aboriginal Australian people who live in the South West, Western Australia, south-west corner of Western Australia, from Geraldton, Western Aus ...

word for 'tortoise'. The dock is capable of lifting up to from the water and to transfer up to from water to land. The dock's initially purpose was to serve as a maintenance facility for the Collins-class submarines. In March 2022, Prime Minister

Scott Morrison Scott John Morrison (born 13 May 1968) is an Australian former politician who served as the 30th prime minister of Australia from 2018 to 2022. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia, leader of the Liberal Party and was ...

announced a $4.3-billion investment to establish a large vessel dry dock at the Australian Marine Complex in Henderson. Construction of the facility and

Anzac Mid-Life Capability Assurance Program

The Anzac-class frigates of the Royal Australian Navy currently undergo their Mid-Life Capability Assurance Program (AMCAP) at the Australian Marine Complex, with being the first of the eight ships was the second ship to complete this program, returning to service in 2020, the third and the fourth to complete this service. , , and are undergoing their upgrade and are scheduled to finish in this order. is yet to undergo the process. The upgrade is being carried out by the Warship Asset Management Agreement Alliance, an alliance of the

Commonwealth of Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands. It has a total area of , making it the sixth-largest country in ...

, BAE Systems, SAAB Australia and Naval Ship Management Australia.

Austal

The

shipyard at the Australian Marine Complex built and delivered five

Guardian-class patrol boat The Guardian-class patrol boats are a class of small patrol vessels designed and built in Australia and provided to small South Pacific Ocean countries as part of the Australian Government's Pacific Maritime Security Program. The class is de ...

s and Cape-class patrol boats in 2021, with the later two built for the

Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard The Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force (TTDF) is the military organisation responsible for the defence of the twin-island Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It consists of the Trinidad and Tobago Regiment, the Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard, the ...

while the former having been ordered and financed by the

Australian Department of Defense The Department of Defence, also known simply as Defence, is a department of the Australian Government that is responsible for administering the Australian Defence Force (ADF) and its related entities, and is charged with the defence of Austra ...

. In 2022, Austal All up, 21 Guardian-class patrol boats are scheduled to be built at the complex for twelve Pacific Island nations.

References

{{Reflist City of Cockburn Shipyards of Australia Maritime history of Western Australia 2003 establishments in Australia