200 ASC shipbuilding jobs saved as workers moved to submarines

UP to 200 Adelaide shipbuilders facing uncertain futures have been thrown lifelines to stay in the industry.

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UP to 200 Adelaide shipbuilders facing uncertain futures have been thrown lifelines to stay in the industry.

Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne will today announce the Air Warfare Destroyer project staff will be offered positions on submarine construction and maintenance and up to half will be awarded scholarships to improve skills.

The third of three Air Warfare Destroyers is due to be delivered to the navy in 2019 and the shipbuilding industry is facing a challenge to retain workers on projects which will finish before new builds start.

About 50 AWD workers will be transferred to shipbuilder ASC’s Collins Class Submarine maintenance and sustainment operations and another 50 will work on project management in the Future Submarines project office. Up to 100 workers will be offered scholarships to upgrade their skills in computer-aided design, operations management, computer-aided design and engineering and supply-chain fields.

ASC workers celebrate the day before the Air Warfare Destroyer Brisbane was launched last year in Adelaide.

“Over the next 10 years, the size and skill level of the naval shipbuilding workforce will need to increase significantly to meet the demands of the various shipbuilding programs,’’ Mr Pyne said. “To meet these challenges we need to keep as many of the workers currently building the Air Warfare Destroyers in the naval shipbuilding industry as possible.”

The ASC has been downsizing as projects finish and a Senate estimates committee heard in October that more than 400 jobs could go by the end of the year. The Government has been trying to offset job losses and in October announced 600 workers would be needed to build the new Osborne South Shipyard.

The Defence Department last week issued a request for tender for companies to supply seconded staff with specialist engineering and project management skills to work on the Future Submarines project.

Finance Minister Mathias Cormann, who is responsible for the Government-owned ASC, said the ASC jobs package to be announced today was designed to retain workers needed on future projects.

“With ASC’s performance on the Air Warfare Destroyers continually improving, we now have a highly skilled naval shipbuilding workforce in South Australia,’’ Senator Cormann said.

The ASC has won the contract to build two new Offshore Patrol Vessels at Osborne. A further 10 OPVs will be built in WA.