Euronaval 2018 : ENDEL ENGIE, a French leader in industrial maintenance and associated services, and ASC Pty Ltd, Australia’s established submarine construction and maintenance company, have signed a collaboration agreement aimed at establishing a joint Australian operation to support NAVAL GROUP, for the design and build of Australia’s future submarine fleet, to be built in Australia.
ASC and ENDEL ENGIE, well-known complementary skills
The collaboration, signed at the Euronaval trade show in Paris, brings together ASC, with experience in the construction and maintenance of Australia’s six front-line Collins Class submarines and ENDEL ENGIE, an established supplier of construction and assembly services to NAVAL GROUP’s submarine programs in Cherbourg, France.
ASC built, between February 1990 and March 2003, six 3rd generation Collins Class submarines with diesel-electric propulsion, under a transfer of technology from Kockums of Sweden. Today, as both the sustainer and in-service platform designer of the Collins Class fleet, employing more than 1,200 submarine personnel, ASC carries out approved submarine platform design changes and highly sophisticated fabrication and modification tasks, including the cutting and re-welding of submarine hulls.
For more than 20 years, ENDEL ENGIE has been a major subcontractor to NAVAL GROUP, in the construction and the maintenance of frigates and submarines to a high level of technical sophistication. ENDEL ENGIE is involved in the construction and assembly of several submarines in Cherbourg, working in its areas of expertise, which are mechanics, sheet metal work, piping, welding and handling.
“We applaud this alliance, which opens up new perspectives for collaboration with ASC”, said Emeric Burin des Roziers, Chief Executive Officer of ENDEL ENGIE.
The collaboration is aimed at providing additional submarine building capacity in Australia to Australia’s Future Submarine program prime contractor NAVAL GROUP, he said. “With the support of our colleagues from Engie Services Australia, our presence in Adelaide alongside ASC will enable us to offer NAVAL GROUP in Australia our well-known expertise and experience. Our teams will be trained in France and Australia to meet the stringent demands of submarine construction.”
ASC Chief Executive Officer Stuart Whiley said: “ASC welcomes this collaboration as it leverages ASC’s significant submarine expertise, developed over thirty years working in the heart of the Australian submarine sector”.
An effective collaboration is strengthened to support NAVAL GROUP
This collaboration between ASC and ENDEL creates mutual benefits, with ENDEL’s experience providing submarine fabrication services to Naval Group in France and ASC’s experience in building and sustaining modern submarine platforms in the Australian military and industrial context.
The collaboration agreement aims to explore the opportunities of collaboration of the alliance at ASC’s Osborne operations in Adelaide, in the state of South Australia, where ASC’s submarine deep maintenance is carried out and where it built the Collins Class fleet. The Osborne naval shipbuilding precinct is also where Naval Group is expected to construct 12 Shortfin Barracuda submarines for the Royal Australian Navy, commencing in the early 2020s. Mr Burin des Roziers said that an Australian ENDEL-ASC partnership would strengthen NAVAL GROUP’s capacity to build the large, conventionally powered submarines in Australia.
