August 18, 2010 /EINPresswire.com/ — The Northern Territory Government of Australia is calling for Expressions of Interest from international companies to build and operate a world-class marine supply base in north Australia.
The Chief Minister of the Northern Territory, Paul Henderson, said the marine supply base will be located in Darwin Harbour in northern Australia and is ideally located to secure business from oil and gas developments in the South-East Asian region.
“This is a unique opportunity for an experienced marine supply operator, or operator-led consortia, to establish and grow a purpose-built marine supply facility on the doorstep of Asia,” Mr Henderson said.
“The supply base will be ideally located to benefit from the growth of the offshore oil and gas industry in the region, particularly in the Arafura and Timor seas and in the Browse Basin.”
“Darwin, the capital of the Northern Territory, is situated closer to the commercial centres of Asia than it is to the southern capitals of Australia. It is quicker to fly from Darwin to Indonesia (2725 km) than it is to fly direct to Sydney (3146 km).”
Key components of the marine supply base will be:
* Dedicated multi-user marine berths, berth pockets, staging areas and channel connections to service rig tender vessels, which supply offshore gas rigs with all their supplies
* Undercover, open and bonded storage areas to service critical cargoes being transferred to/from rig tender vessels
* Connections to all utilities and easy supply of fuel, water and other supplies to enable quick turn-around times for rig tender vessels
Expressions of Interest have been called and submissions are due by 27 October 2010.
This will be followed by a Request for Detailed Proposals from short listed consortia and the subsequent finalisation of contracts.
The preferred bidder will be announced in late 2011 and construction is expected to commence in early 2012.
For more information or to view the EOI, visit www.invest.nt.gov.au