Strategic Marine's Vietnamese Success

In only 18 months, Western Australian (WA) shipbuilder Strategic Marine has transformed a 136,000sqm block of vacant land at the Dong Xuyen Industrial Zone in southern Vietnam into a fully functioning shipyard with the capacity to produce large steel vessels and orders worth over US$60 million.

 

Strategic Marine’s Vietnam managing director Mark Schiller said this astonishing feat could not have been accomplished without the whole-hearted assistance and support of the Vietnamese authorities and businesses, as well as the sheer hard work of the local workforce.

 

“I would like to pay tribute to the government for the incentives it offered us to invest in the yard, to local contractors who have worked so hard to complete the construction work, and to our 1,300 employees who have adapted so rapidly to the challenges of learning new skills,” Mr Schiller said.

 

The shipyard currently has nearly 20,000sqm of machinery and workshop space, comprising five large fabrication workshops, five specialist workshops, a 5,000sqm store area and a 1,500sqm paint shop. In addition to this, a further 30,000sqm is given over to a heavy load laydown area. All areas have been fully equipped to produce steel and aluminium vessels of varying sizes. The yard’s tree slipways are capable of supporting vessel construction up to 180m long and 60m wide. The yard is equipped with more than 20 workshop overhead gantry cranes ranging in size from 5T–20T, two 200T crawler cranes, two 50T crawler cranes and a fleet of support vehicles, plant and equipment.

 

Workshop equipment, including CNC plasma cutting machines and steel cutting and rolling machines, ensures that most ship construction and refit and repair requirements are catered for in-house. The facility is already close to completing the 103m x 50m steel pontoon base for the Australian Marine Complex Floating Dry Dock, a Western Australian government contract, which is scheduled to be shipped to WA in early December. Construction is also nearing completion on the hulls of two 143m Dive Support Vessels for a Singaporean client.

 

In addition, construction continues on forty 12m high-speed aluminium oilfield service vessels and four 20m high speed aluminium landing craft. Strategic Marine has also won an order to build a 24m new generation Compact Tug for the Port of Napier in New Zealand.

 

“We are now ideally placed to boost our growth by diversifying into larger and more technical vessels, as well as developing our refit and repair facilities,” Mr Schiller said.

“The success of the yard so early in its life bears testimony to our ability to seamlessly transfer skill sets and technology to a young workforce willing to learn.

 

“With a client base ranging from private customers to worldwide fleet operators, we work closely with clients to ensure we comply fully with specifications, Classification Society Rules and Regulations, as well as contract requirements,” he said.

 

Mr Schiller said Strategic Marine’s long-established Quality Management Systems guaranteed that production met specifications and that the company’s operations were managed professionally every step of the way.

 

“These systems underpin Strategic Marine’s continued success in bringing local workforces up to international standards, enabling the company to turn overseas shipyards into premier shipbuilding facilities while maintaining the values of the local community,” he said. “You could say that we have shown repeatedly we positively relish adjusting to overseas conditions by embracing the local culture.”

 

The outstanding success of the Dong Xuyen yard has helped Strategic Marine win a number of Australian business awards in the past year. These include the Australian Chamber of Commerce Vietnam 2007 Business Excellence Award, which highlights the importance of community service and importing success to Vietnam. What is more, Strategic Marine is a finalist in the Western Australian Industry and Export Awards, and the company’s Chairman Mark Newbold is in the national finals of the prestigious Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award after winning the western region final.

 

“It is personally gratifying to win this award,” Mr Newbold said after the presentation.

 

“But it is important to realise that I could not have achieved this without the whole-hearted support of my fellow-Directors, our senior management and Strategic Marine staff and their families.

 

“Vietnam’s ability to compete on the global markets against the likes of China is a huge benefit to manufacturing industries such as ourselves. Our relationship with Vietnam and its economy has provided us with a platform to bring in export earnings, to the benefit of all.”

 

JAMIE ANDERSON