LOL enoomal ...
What sector is your rumour source from please ?
Austal can’t have it all bad, but the Tasmanian ferry contract might be looking a bit out of reach too?
FWIW below are a couple of stories on the controversial Tasmanian ferry contract Austal has tendered for..
But I did read (only can’t find the link) a few weeks back Trump tried to pass a bill to continue to allow funds to be redirected (as in the reported instance of Austal US shipbuilding funds being redirected to build the Mexican wall) but this was not passed.
TT-Line chair Mike Grainger says Australia's capacity to build steel monohull vessels is currently "limited".
The chair of TT-Line has cast doubt on Australia's capacity to manufacture large steel hull vessels to replace the Spirit of Tasmania ships.
In a government business scrutiny hearing yesterday, TT-Line's Mike Grainger said the company left "no stone unturned" when developing a business case for replacing the ageing Spirits, examining all options including local shibuilding capacity .
His comments come after the state government's establishment of a taskforce to explore opportunities for local manufacturers to be involved in the construction of the new ships, despite TT-Line itself recommending they be built in Europe.
"Over the three years that we took to establish the business case, we looked at all options - not only in Australia but worldwide," Mr Grainger said. "Those options included all different types of vessels to operate on our specific route."
"We ... evaluated as many options as we could find at the time. We had significant discussions in the sense of leaving no stone unturned.
"And that's what we did. And those outcomes are in the business case."
The government signed a memorandum of understanding with Finnish shipbuilder Rauma Marine Constructions in relation to the $850 million project in February, before standing up the taskforce in July, pausing the procurement process.
We ... evaluated as many options as we could find at the time. We had significant discussions in the sense of leaving no stone unturned. Mike Grainger, TT-Line chair
Western Australian shipbuilder Austal has proposed to build the hulls for the replacement vessels in the Philippines and fit them out in Australia, while Tasmania's Incat has put its hand up to construct catamarans to provide the ferry service.
"There aren't the builders [in Australia] at the moment ... apart from a couple of high-speed craft builders, that build vessels to the international requirements," Mr Grainger said.
"I can tell you from experience that it is a significant approval process that one needs to go through."
Meanwhile, Mr Grainger said the ramp design for the Spirits' prospective new port at Corio Quay in Geelong was based on the current vessels and the RMC design.
Labor infrastructure spokesman Shane Broad asked the TT-Line chair if the company was "moving forward with the assumption" that the new ships would have three levels, to which Mr Grainger replied: "No-one's told us not to."
Infrastructure Minister Michael Ferguson told the hearing that, through the work of the taskforce, the government was going through a "prudent process" in relation to the procurement of the new Spirits.
"We're just asking people to be patient while the taskforce conducts its important work," Mr Ferguson said. "We don't know where that will lead."
NOVEMBER 22 2020 - 5:30PM Tasmanian government and opposition trade barbs over Saul Eslake's Spirit of Tasmania report
Sandy Powell An economist's report which questioned the state government's handling of the project to build two new Bass Strait ferries has been derided as being "based on assumption and rumour".
In a report commissioned by the Labor opposition and published on Sunday, economist Saul Eslake said the Liberals could be about to make a "most financially ill-advised" decision.
Mr Eslake was assessing the possibility of a "local" build of the new Spirit of Tasmania ferries.
Following (it would seem) intervention from the Commonwealth government, the Tasmanian government... established a 'task force' to 'explore opportunities to have the ships built in Australia'," Mr Eslake said.
He said "in Australia", likely meant the contract would be awarded to Western Australian company Austal, which would outsource much of the construction to Asia and Europe. "The only work actually done 'in Australia' would likely be the fit-out of passenger cabins, restaurants, and other public areas," he said.
"If this company, or any other Australian company or consortium were to be awarded this work, there would appear to be a high probability that the ships would cost more, take longer to build, and/or would prove less capable and reliable than the ones which TT-Line had intended to have built in Europe."
After its publication, government infrastructure minister Michael Ferguson lashed out at the contents of the report and Labor for having it commissioned.
Mr Ferguson repeated the government's previous line that the $850 million investment had the potential to create 1500 Australian jobs.
Saul Eslake
"When faced with a choice to invest around $850 million overseas, the Tasmanian Government decided to take one final opportunity to explore all our options in maximising the benefits for Tasmanian businesses and the people they employ and the families they support.
"It would be negligent of the government to not explore every opportunity for at least some of those jobs to go to Tasmanians."
Mr Ferguson said assertions made in Mr Eslake's report about the federal government forcing Premier Peter Gutwein to create the task force were "baseless", and that no decision had been made to contract Austal.
"The Eslake report is out of date already, and based on assumption and rumour."
Mr Ferguson said the government had paused the ship procurement process for six months for the task force to complete its work, which it began in August.
Labor's infrastructure spokesperson Shane Broad, however, said it was a "cruel hoax" to say there were Tasmanian jobs in a project that was delayed to 2028.
Mr Ferguson said the current ships can operate until 2028, but that the government remained committed to replacing them earlier.
"We support maximising Tasmanian content in the build of the new Spirits of Tasmania," Dr Broad said.
"We have said that all along and indeed that was what the state government promised leading into the election in 2017, and we agree with that.
"It is a cruel hoax to be talking about Tasmanian jobs in a project that has been pushed out until 2028."
In his report, Mr Eslake noted that in 2017 the government of the day concluded that "there are no Australian shipyards with the capacity to build new Spirits".
"It is not at all obvious that anything has changed in that regard over the intervening three years," Mr Eslake said.
Dr Broad said that if the government had pursued plans to build with Rauma from July, Tasmanian companies could be involved with the project as early as next year.
Shane Broad.
"We could have Tasmanian businesses fitting out a brand new ship.
"We could have AH Beard making mattresses, we could have Britton Brothers making special species veneer panels, we could have Taylor Brothers getting ready to fit out cabins.
"And we could have a tourism industry looking forward to an extra $350 million spent in the state."
The government's decision, Mr Eslake said, to explore having the Spirits built in Australia equates to $350 million that could be lost to the state each peak season.
"Each year's delay in the delivery of the replacements for the Spirits of Tasmania, compared with TT-Line's original intentions, means up to 184,200 fewer visitors to Tasmania," he said.
Mr Eslake said the decision to replace the existing Spirits was of "critical importance" to the Tasmanian economy and was arguably the largest infrastructure project in the state in nearly three decades.
(20min delay)