HMAS Sirius as it is expected to look on sea trials in late 2006

The WESTRALIA Replacement Project (SEA 1654 Ph2A) detailed in the 2001 Defence Capability Plan (DCP) sought to replace HMAS WESTRALIA when it reaches the end of its design life in 2009 with a purpose-built support ship. The estimated budget for the project was to be between $350m and $450m.

In November 2003 the Revised DCP significantly changed the nature and scope of the project. The WESTRALIA replacement was to be an already operating and environmentally sustainable ship of commercial origin, modified in Australia to meet the Navy’s needs and provide the fleet with under way replenishment of fuel (diesel and aviation) and water. The budget was reduced to between $100m to $150m.

The revised WESTRALIA replacement project was required to achieve almost 80 per cent of the original requirements with less than 40 per cent of the original budget, in 50 per cent of the original timeframe. It represented a real challenge for the project office, which they were more than able to meet. The acquisition of the DELOS and its conversion into HMAS SIRIUS is the result of a successful, innovative and creative procurement project that is being monitored by other Navies.

The delivery of a capability to the Navy doesn’t just happen by accident. The Project Office engaged a commercial Australian product tanker shipping operator and shipping agent to assist in identifying a suitable second-hand double hulled, oil tanker as the base ship for the WESTRALIA replacement.

The international commercial shipping market for second-hand, double hulled, oil tankers is particularly bullish. In this market, $50m double-hulled tankers were bought and sold within 2-3 days using shipbrokers, often located on opposite sides of the world. The Commonwealth engaged the service of such a broker to protect its identity and negotiating position. This strategy was successful and the DELOS , a brand new Lloyds Register classed vessel, was purchased from a Greek Ship owner within one week of the vessel completing builder’s sea trials.

MT Delos on builders sea trials May 2004

Notably, following the purchase of the DELOS , the Commonwealth was contacted by commercial ship owners to see if it would consider selling the ship for millions of dollars more than it had paid for it.

The DELOS was selected from an original list of approximately 20-30 tankers, which was shortlisted to four. A small team including representatives from the project, the relevant International Association of Class Societies (IACS), the commercial ship operator and an independent adviser visited the four candidate vessels. These visits involved getting to the ships, which were on the move, and resulted in the team travelling around the world ( North America , Europe , and Asia ) in 2.5 weeks to inspect the four vessels.

On 15 March 2005, following the tender evaluation, Government approval, tender negotiation and a systems design review, the Commonwealth signed a contract with Tenix for more than $60m for the conversion of the DELOS to HMAS SIRIUS.

The purchase of HMAS SIRIUS Replenishment-At-Sea (RAS) Rig was another important component of the project. The objective was to minimise the complexity and cost of integration and to avoid increasing manning requirements through the addition of complex systems to the ship. The Rexroth Hydraudyne RAS system was selected. The RAS systems will utilise the existing hydraulic power available on the DELOS.

From September 2005 until the third quarter 2006 the physical production work for the DELOS modification work packages will be performed. The ship test and evaluation period and the SIRIUS’ operational release will be undertaken later in 2006.