Ann: Aulong Joint Venture Update, page-31

Would Navantia by us?

Spanish naval giant Navantia has begun establishing a significant footprint in WA. The company, which has designed 19 vessels for the RAN since 2006, will come under the spotlight again next month when the second of the RAN’s two new supply ships, NUSHIP Stalwart, is scheduled to arrive in Fremantle from Spain.

Navantia is eyeing expansion opportunities in WA, according to its new managing director, Israel Lozano Barragán, who succeeded Alfonso Garcia-Valdes earlier this month and is based at Navantia Australia’s Sydney head office. The company currently employs 180 people and expects to grow to about 250 over the next two years, many of whom will be based in Fremantle.

Navantia Australia was formed a decade ago to establish a sovereign design and engineering capability to support the maintenance and upgrading of the ships it designed for the RAN. It is now looking to the navy’s Joint Support Ship project, SEA 2200, as an opportunity to develop this capability further, along with a sovereign production capability, in line with Australia’s Naval Shipbuilding Plan.

Under this project, worth $4-6bn, Defence plans to buy two new support and