BlueZone Group Newcastle hosts Senator Johnston

BlueZone Group Newcastle hosts Senator Johnston

Leading subsea electronics supplier, BlueZone Pty Ltd, was pleased to host a visit from Senator The Honourable David Johnston, Shadow Minister for Defence and Senator for Western Australia, on Friday 9 August 2013. Senator Johnston was accompanied by The Honourable Bob Baldwin MP, Shadow Minister for Regional Development and Shadow Minister for Tourism in a visit to the BlueZone Newcastle office and Jaimie Abbot, Candidate for Newcastle.

The visit began with an informative presentation by BlueZone Newcastle General Manager, Jennylee Taylor. Jennylee described BlueZone as a leading supplier of underwater electronics, instruments and engineering with activities in sales, service and rentals. BlueZone celebrated 40 years in business in 2013 and had a history of supporting the introduction of innovative products to the market including the first ROVs operated in the Bass Strait in the 1970s, the introduction of ADCP technology in 1980s and now the “game changing” Wave Glider technology for persistent and pervasive monitoring of the world’s oceans.

Senator Johnston was particularly interested in the Wave Glider technology and immediately saw applications for border security and monitoring of Australia’s vast ocean assets. The Wave Glider could provide a “picket fence” function that would detect ocean traffic and provide authorities with timely and accurate data on location and movements to enable rapid response if required. BlueZone’s CEO, Neil Hodges, emphasised that in-country support was key to the introduction of new technologies such as Wave Glider and said that BlueZone you had a demonstrable record of success in this. He said that BlueZone was working closely with the Defence Material Office in developing of applications of Wave Gliders to support the Royal Australian Navy.

Bob Baldwin and Jaimie Abbot with BlueZone CTO, Darren Burrowes, COO, Neil Trenaman, Russel Stranger (Adviser to Senator Johnston) and Max Kufner (Thales).	BlueZone CTO, Darren Burrowes with Bob Baldwin and Jaimie Abbot.