Dockwise Wins Military Contracts

Dockwise Ltd. announces that its subsidiary Dockwise Shipping has entered into contracts with the Spanish naval shipyard Navantia for the transport of two Canberra-class amphibious helicopter carriers (LHD) and with the Russian naval shipyard Zvezda for the transport of two nuclear powered submarines.
Navantia, located in Ferrol, Spain, a naval shipyard, is building the two LHD's for the Australian Navy. The hull of the vessels and its outfitting will, to a large extend be completed by the Spanish yard. The final construction, outfitting and commissioning will be performed by Australian contractors. In this arrangement the transport to Melbourne on the deck of a semi submersible transport vessel is the preferred option. To accommodate the 231 meter long LHD's, Dockwise and Navantia have agreed the use of the Blue Marlin for each of the two transports. Execution of the contracts will take place in 2012 and 2014.
Naval shipyard Zvezda, located in Bolshoi Kamen, Russia, will dismantle the two nuclear powered submarines. This project is sponsored by the Canadian Government under the Global Partnership Programme, originally established by the G8 to stop the proliferation of weapons and materials of mass destruction. The submarines, located in Kamchatka, form part of a larger number of nuclear powered submarines to be dismantled by Zvezda. Dockwise will involve nuclear experts in this project in which safety and security have absolute priority. Execution of the contract will take place in 2009.
The combined value of the contracts is almost $40 million. Dockwise's Chief Executive Officer André Goedée is pleased with the contracts:
"Throughout the years Dockwise has been engaged in projects for different international navies, with a large variety of naval equipment involved. Mobilizing or demobilizing military naval equipment on its own power is, for different reasons, not always possible . The capacity of the Dockwise vessels often allows for creative and unorthodox solutions, apart from other arguments such as safety, security, reduction of wear and tear and predetermined arrival targets. The contribution of these contracts once again indicates the importance of the market diversity on which the Dockwise strategy is built."