Nearly 900 people were on KiwiRail Interislander’s 29-year-old ferry Kaitaki when it lost power in a storm in January 2023 whilst entering Wellington Harbour en route from Picton on the South Island. Thankfully, nobody died and in the end, the passengers remained safely on the ship rather than...
Ausmarine – Featured
COLUMN | Big is better? Big finds in Namibia; big losses at Gazprom; big sale at Edda Wind; big problems at Petrofac [Offshore Accounts]
Every day, the world uses around one hundred million barrels of oil. The term “big oil” is used pejoratively to describe the industry’s lobbying power. But is big always better? This week, we look at both the biggest and the best, and the biggest and the worst of the oil industry. Big finds:...
OPINION | Mitigating the imminent fall in the navy’s surface fleet
We’ve had plenty of defence announcements so far this year. Many have rightly focused on Australia’s situation and vulnerabilities as an island trading nation, one whose daily survival depends on the fuel, fertiliser, pharmaceuticals, and other essentials imported by sea. This awakening has been...
OPINION | Between them, Australia, France and India can watch the Indian Ocean
Australia, France, and India ought to be cooperating more closely in the surveillance of the Indian Ocean through their valuably located islands, enhancing the awareness of each of country without additional cost. They should first share information that they’re already collecting, then move as...
OPINION | Start thinking now about alternatives to AUKUS Pillar 1
The program to equip the Royal Australian Navy with nuclear submarines is in trouble. The takeaway: Australia must begin thinking now about what to do to avoid program failure. Why has this situation arisen? First, the prospective program costs are enormous and have been badly underestimated....
OPINION | Out of focus: Australia neglects western Indian Ocean
The Quad partners often discuss the Indo-Pacific, but they hold differing views on what exactly it is. That disparity has tangible effects, such as Australia’s diminished interest in piracy in the western Indian Ocean compared with its Quad partners. While China consistently demonstrates interest...
AWARDS 2023 | Best Security Landing Craft – Island Guardian – Norman R. Wright and Sons
Best Security Landing Craft – Island Guardian – Norman R. Wright and Sons This fast, truly multi-purpose craft from Queensland’s renowned Norman R. Wright and Sons has a multitude of roles. It combines those of patrol boat, landing craft, Ro-Pax ferry, research vessel, general work boat and more...
OPINION | Fremantle’s wartime past serves as AUKUS submarine prologue
The strategic potential of Submarine Rotational Force-West, the AUKUS initiative that commits the United States and United Kingdom to forward-deploy a small flotilla of nuclear-powered attack submarines to HMAS Stirling, near Fremantle, isn’t adequately appreciated. Fortunately, history has set an instructive if insufficiently known precedent. During World War II, from a precarious start, Fremantle was […]
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OPINION | Wartime trade: it’s not just military supply
The vulnerability of Australia’s trade routes to military coercion was highlighted by both last year’s Defence Strategic Update and by government commentary on the rationale for AUKUS. In his critique of ASPI’s new report, The trade routes vital to Australia’s economic security, Richard Dunley...
COLUMN | Correcting course: Aramco and jackups; Siem Offshore and Kristian Siem; Ferguson Marine; MMA Offshore; Maersk/Svitzer [Offshore Accounts]
Harold Macmillan was supposedly once asked what the most troubling problem of his time as British Prime Minister was. “Events, my dear boy, events,” was his reply. I thought I had this week’s column nailed well in advance, but offshore is an industry especially susceptible to unexpected and hard to predict “events”. So, we must […]
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