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Customer: Australian Defence Force Contract: Design and Construct Location: Samoa, Tonga, Cook Islands, Tuvalu, Kiribati, Fiji, Vanuatu, Palau, Solomon Islands   |
Fast Facts
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We're proud to be upgrading marine infrastructure for nine Pacific Island countries as part of the Australian Government’s Pacific Maritime Security Program (PMSP).
The project aligns perfectly with our capabilities and values. We have a strong track record for delivering logistically challenging marine projects and our vision is to build a better life across the Pacific.
The wharf upgrades are designed to accommodate the Australian-gifted Guardian-class Patrol Boats (GPBs). Each Pacific Island country will use the GPBs to monitor their exclusive economic zones, help prevent smuggling and illegal fishing, and assist with search and rescue operations.
Work is split into nine packages, one package per location, and includes piling, sheet piling, installing wharf furniture, electrical and hydraulic services, dredging, structural steelwork, and concreting. Works will be completed with a mixture of marine and onshore plant.
Each wharf has unique facilities and requires different upgrades, but the overall scope is to provide safe berthing and mooring facilities, as well as access and services for maintenance and provisioning for the Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Palau, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Tonga, and Tuvalu.
The project has been managed from our newly established Fiji office, which offers easy transport links to most of the Pacific and serves to strengthen our presence in the Pacific.
Pandemic impacts
The design and construct contract was awarded by the Australian Government in April 2019. Our project team completed a six-month-long design and procurement period and had mobilised at several sites when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020.
Construction already underway in Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, Vanuatu, and the Solomon Islands was put on hold and sites were shut down. When many of the borders reopened around mid-2022 the teams remobilised and restarted construction according to each county’s codes and regulations.
COVID-19 was an unexpected challenge placing pressure on logistics and labour but it presented both risks and opportunities.
Staying local
We take a proactive approach to managing risk and looks to turn challenges into opportunities. Infrastructure construction in the Pacific presents unique logistical challenges but local knowledge and strong relationships with local suppliers, built over 50 years working in the region, have inspired some great initiatives.
One example is the on-island concrete batching plant we established in Tonga that minimised environmental impacts and maximised social and economic benefits. Setting up the plant created jobs, and opportunities to upskill, and used local materials, all of which contributed to positive broader social outcomes.
We have also used predominantly local labour on the project and the team continues to train and develop local workers wherever possible. Social procurement is also important and the team works hard to find local suppliers. By using local suppliers and finding efficient ways to transport plant and materials, travel can be kept to a minimum, time and cost saved, and the project's carbon footprint reduced.
The full scope of work across all nine Pacific Islands will be completed by late 2025.
