BlueZone Group Awarded Sub-Contract for SEA1770

Newcastle, NSW, December 17, 2015 – UVS, A BlueZone Group company, has been awarded a $7.2m sub-contract by Lockheed Martin Australia for the provision of hydrographic systems and equipment for the Australian Department of Defence Project SEA1770 Rapid Environmental Assessment – Maritime.

SEA1770 will equip deployable geospatial survey teams and mobile meteorological and oceanographic teams with environmental and survey sensors and communications and data transmission systems with Phase 1 focused on the maritime environment.

Equipment to be supplied by BlueZone includes a wide range of Teledyne Marine oceanographic and hydrographic instruments including:

•    Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler
•    Multi-Beam Echo Sounder
•    Single Beam Echo Sounder
•    Heave Compensator

Importantly, SEA1770 will see the acquisition of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles and the Hydroid REMUS 100 vehicles have been selected for this project. SEA1770 supports a pathway over time for the development and evolution of an off-board robotic technology in support of future hydrographic operations for the Royal Australian Navy.

BlueZone Group Director, Neil Hodges, said that the award of the subcontract to BlueZone was a testament to the broad scope of supply that could be offered by BlueZone to meet the requirements for SEA1770. “BlueZone has worked with leading underwater systems OEMs for more than 40 years,” said Mr Hodges, “Our skilled and experienced sales team was able to work with our overseas suppliers to offer a complete package of equipment to Lockheed Martin to meet the rapid environmental assessment task of SEA1770”.

BlueZone Director, Darren Burrowes, said that the introduction of the REMUS 100 AUV into active service for the Royal Australian Navy was an important step forward in the future application of robotics to naval warfare tasks. “Missions such as mine countermeasures and environmental assessment in hostile areas can best be accomplished by robotic technology,” said Mr Burrowes. “Keeping personnel out of hazardous areas is a key application of robotics to naval warfare and BlueZone is pleased to be providing the equipment to support this capability.”.

Mr Hodges said that BlueZone was well-positioned to support Lockheed Martin and provide through-life support for equipment to be delivered for SEA1770. “BlueZone has worked closely with OEMs to establish an Australian-based service capability for a wide range of sophisticated equipment,” said Mr Hodges.