Perth is on track to become a regional powerhouse in undersea technology, including designing and building autonomous underwater vessels, building on the strategic alliance between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States.
In a boost for Western Australia’s naval and defence industry, Mr Paul Papali Minister for Defence Industry has officially opened the Bibra Lake, Perth, facility for Australian owned and operated Marine Tech Systems.
Marine Tech Systems (a subsidiary of Blue Ocean Monitoring) has been providing undersea autonomy expertise to British and Australian defence agencies since 2016.
With plans to double its local workforce within twelve months, Marine Tech Systems is developing autonomous technology that will help gather vital intelligence and data while reducing risks to personnel and significantly reducing the environmental impact compared to conventional practices.
Blue Ocean Monitoring recently appointed former Naval Commodore (and most recently WA Agent General), Mike Deeks CSC as Group Managing Director, with the former head of Australia’s submarine forces confident that Perth will become a regional powerhouse in undersea technology.
“We have an ambitious plan for further development of our technology over the next couple of years,” Mr Deeks will say, during today’s official opening ceremony. “Perth can become the undersea technology and operations hub for the Indo-Pacific region.”
Blue Ocean Monitoring and its subsidiary, Marine Tech Systems, are proudly Western Australian businesses built from the smarts of Australian university graduates, defence and defence industry personnel. The Blue Ocean Monitoring group is looking to build a global business and, already with a presence in the UK, it is aiming to expand into the United States.
In addition to its Defence contracts, Blue Ocean Monitoring has a joint venture with energy giants BP and Woodside, known as Blue Ocean Seismic Surveys (BOSS). BOSS is developing new and disruptive autonomous technology for ocean bottom seismic surveys and activities in support of carbon capture and storage, offshore windfarms and other applications. The company also has a joint venture with Vertech, known as Blue Ocean Marine Systems, which specialises in underwater surveys and technological solutions for the offshore marine sector.
