Bhagwan Marine has been awarded a contract to supply marine vessels and crew to support construction on Rio Tinto’s Amrun bauxite project in north Queensland.
“Winning this new work couldn’t have come at a better time”, Bhagwan's Geraldton-based managing director Loui Kannikoski said in a statement.
“We will be supplying a variety of tugs, barges, multi-cats and crew transfer vessels to Amrun, which is a huge win for us not only in terms of fleet utilisation, but also in providing two years of ongoing work security to some of our amazing crews.
“Creating new work opportunities for some of the local community is also very satisfying for us.”
The contract win comes at a time when the marine services sector has been hit hard by the downturn in both the oil and gas sector and marine construction work.
This has been evidenced by the weak financial performance of listed company MMA Australia, which said recently the offshore oil & gas vessel industry continues to face enormous headwinds
Amrun is a greenfield bauxite development in the Weipa/Aurukun region of Western Cape York, in the far north of Queensland.
It will eventually replace the existing East Weipa mine centre and develop the high-quality bauxite reserves available south of the Weipa Peninsula.
Construction includes an ore beneficiation plant, export port, truck dump station, conveying and stockpiling facilities.
Bhagwan’s scope includes the supply of personnel, vessels, plant and equipment.
The company said a significant percentage of its workforce would consist of Indigenous employees from the local community and other regional areas.
It plans to roll out indigenous coxswain traineeships, in which trainees from local communities will complete a two-year program consisting of four weeks’ pre-season training, 20 months on the job training and four weeks’ post-sea training.
