Page 10 - Australian Defence Magazine Nov 2020

10 NEWS REVIEW
NOVEMBER 2020 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
AMRA CONFIRMS BID FOR MAGNETIC
VICTORIAN-BASED Advanced Magnetic Ranges Australia (AMRA), a joint ven- ture between AMOG and French na- val technology specialist ECA Group, have submitted their bid for the RAN’s Magnetic Treatment Facility under Sea 1350 Phase 2.
Sea 1350 Phase 2 is set to replace an existing deperming facility at Fleet Base West and is seeking an innovative ‘over- run’ solution that will deliver both time and cost savings to the Commonwealth. It replaces the traditional deperming process of wrapping the entire body of a ship or submarine in a massive wire coil and pass- ing electricity through the coil to reduce the magnetic ‘signature’ of the vessel.
AMOG CEO Ben Clark has confirmed that AMRA’s submission ‘includes an im-
pressive list of Australian subcontractors and SMEs who will ensure that Australian industry content is maximised, whilst de- livering the best global technology from ECA Group.’
“Safety at sea is a continuous chal- lenge since it is a hostile environment,” Philippe Novelli, Chief Commercial Of- ficer of the Robotics Division at ECA Group, said. “Beyond the fact that AM- RA’s solution is based on a tried, tested and approved method of ship protection through magnetic risk management such as deperming of submarines, our solu- tion is a real technological breakthrough as it simplifies the process and reduces the time required.”
The AMRA approach uses wire coils laid down on the seabed, supported by
a custom-designed subsea structure, through which a specific current form is passed as the vessel moves over the coils. This single day ‘over-run’ process provides a significant operational advantage when compared to the traditional wrapping, which can take up to 10 days.
AMRA is working with Total AMS, THYCON, DM Civil, Logistic Engineer- ing Services, Matrix, FRP Engineering, Solutions from Silicon, and the Australian arm of Boskalis.
The company says it will support the transfer of knowledge from ECA in France, bring UK-based ARC Marine’s reef tech- nology to Cockburn Sound working with Polevine (Permacast), and help create a new cable manufacturing capability trans- ferred from Italy to Prysmian Australia.
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