- Western Australia now home to Australia’s first hyperbaric chamber testing facility
- $1.2 million facility built at Australian Marine Complex at Henderson to support local jobs and economic diversification
- Oil and gas industry no longer needs to send subsea equipment overseas for testing
Australia’s first hyperbaric chamber testing facility has now opened, delivering significant savings for local resources companies and supporting local jobs and industry.
The facility – which was supported by the LNG Jobs Taskforce led by Premier Roger Cook – can be used to test subsea control modules and other sophisticated equipment, ensuring they are fit to work in subsea conditions.
Until now, subsea control modules – a vital component for the offshore oil and gas industry – had to be sent overseas for inspection and repair.
Led by the Subsea Innovation Cluster Australia and industry partners Baker Hughes and Matrix Composites and Engineering, the new hyperbaric test facility at the Australian Marine Complex in Henderson will reduce the time for testing and repairs from four months to just two weeks.
It provides savings for companies that use it, as well as reducing their carbon footprint when it comes to transporting goods overseas, and is expected to be used by local, national and international companies.
As stated by Premier Roger Cook:
“We’re getting on with our plan to diversify the economy, including backing new opportunities in the industries that support our world-leading resources sector.
“It just doesn’t make sense to send parts overseas for testing, when we can do it here – creating local jobs and delivering savings for local companies.
“Jointly funded by my Government and industry, the opening of this testing chamber is the first step towards a regional deep water testing facility for WA – putting us at the cutting edge of the global oil and gas sector.”
