Victoria’s last shipyard at Williamstown is selling off its plant equipment, sinking all hope that work may start up again.
Tiger Asset Group is conducting the major shipyard and fabrication asset sales on behalf of BAE Systems, via an expressions of interest campaign until December 28.
BAE Systems Australia spokesperson Kaye Noske said the company had been working to dispose of assets since shipbuilding operations ceased at the site in 2016. “This includes the transfer of assets to other parts of the business and the sale of assets where we see no immediate requirement,” she said.
“It is important to note that the Williamstown site continues to house an important engineering and project-management hub, which provides pivotal support to our national maritime sustainment business.”
Williamstown historian Brian Haynes said that in 1913 the dockyard was known as the State Shipbuilding Yard and was taken over by the Commonwealth government in World War I.
“Ownership passed to the Melbourne Harbor Trust after WWI but during World War II it was requisitioned back by the Commonwealth and was known as the HM Naval Dockyard Williamstown, but commonly known by all as the Williamstown Naval Dockyard,” he said.
“In 1987, it passed into private control, where it remains today. Today’s southern section of the BAE’s site encompasses the long-gone Naval Torpedo Depot and drill hall, harking back to the days of the 19th-century Victorian Navy, the largest fleet in Australia.”
Last month, the federal government announced its $89-million naval shipbuilding plan, which included major investment in South Australia and Western Australia.
Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union state secretary Craig Kelly described the end of shipbuilding in Williamstown as “very disappointing”.
“It’s another lost opportunity for Victoria and the people who built those ships,” he said.
“It’s an opportunity gone begging.”
