 | |
| Founded | 1948 |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | , Australia |
| Services | Ship builder |
| Owner | Don Fry |
| Website | www.nqea.com.au |
NQEA Pty Ltd [1] is an engineering and shipbuilding company based in Cairns, Australia. The company was founded in 1948 as an engineering supply company named North Queensland Engineers & Agents, then expanded in 1966 into shipbuilding and was renamed. [2]
Cairns is a city in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia. It is on the east coast of Far North Queensland. The city is the 5th-most-populous in Queensland and ranks 14th overall in Australia.
NQEA has built several ships for the Royal Australian Navy (including the Fremantle-class patrol boats and Leeuwin-class survey ships). [3] The company was contracted to build modules to form the hulls of the Hobart-class air warfare destroyer project in May 2009, but lost the contract a month later to BAE Systems Australia after admissions that an internal restructuring may lead to difficulties meeting the contracted obligations. [4]
The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force. Following the Federation of Australia in 1901, the ships and resources of the separate colonial navies were integrated into a national force, called the Commonwealth Naval Forces. Originally intended for local defence, the navy was granted the title of 'Royal Australian Navy' in 1911, and became increasingly responsible for defence of the region.
The Fremantle-class patrol boats were coastal patrol vessels operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) from 1979 to 2007. Designed by British shipbuilder Brooke Marine and constructed in Australia by North Queensland Engineers and Agents, the Fremantle class were larger, more powerful, and more capable than the preceding Attack class, and the two primary patrol boat bases required infrastructure upgrades to support them. Although up to 30 vessels were planned, fifteen were ordered and constructed, with an unexercised option for five more.
The Leeuwin class is a two-ship class of hydrographic survey vessels operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Leeuwin and Melville were ordered from NQEA Australia in 1996, and were commissioned in 2000. The ships are capable of charting waters up to 6,000 metres (20,000 ft) deep, carry three Fantome class survey boats, and can operate an AS 350B Squirrel helicopter. In addition to surveying duties, since 2001 both vessels have been used to supplement the RAN patrol force. Leeuwin and Melville are based at HMAS Cairns, and are active as of 2019.
The company has also built catamaran ferries for the State Transit Authority (now operated by Sydney Ferries), London based Thames Clippers, and operators in French Polynesia and the Netherlands. [5] [6]
The State Transit Authority, also referred to as State Transit or STA, is an agency of the Government of New South Wales operating bus services in Sydney. Superseding the Urban Transit Authority in 1989, It was also responsible for the provision of ferry services in Sydney until 2004 and bus and ferry services in Newcastle until 2017. It reports to the Minister for Transport, Andrew Constance. The current chief executive is Steffen Faurby.
Sydney Ferries is the public transport ferry network serving the Australian city of Sydney, New South Wales. Services operate on Sydney Harbour and the connecting Parramatta River. The network is controlled by the New South Wales Government's transport authority, Transport for NSW, and is part of the authority's Opal ticketing system. In 2017-18, 15.3 million passenger journeys were made on the network.
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom. Standing on the River Thames in the south-east of England, at the head of its 50-mile (80 km) estuary leading to the North Sea, London has been a major settlement for two millennia. Londinium was founded by the Romans. The City of London, London's ancient core − an area of just 1.12 square miles (2.9 km2) and colloquially known as the Square Mile − retains boundaries that follow closely its medieval limits. The City of Westminster is also an Inner London borough holding city status. Greater London is governed by the Mayor of London and the London Assembly.
