As they say Down Under, it’s a “g’day” for the future of shipbuilding in Hampton Roads.
The Hampton Roads Workforce Council, in collaboration with the Hampton Roads Alliance, forged a new partnership with South Metropolitan TAFE, a technical college in Western Australia, to train the next generation of global shipbuilders as more workers are needed to meet the coming demand for submarines.
The partnership will leverage the workforce development and training strengths of both regions to help future submarine builders with the necessary skills and knowledge to bolster the defense maritime sector, they said. A memorandum of understanding was signed during a ceremony on June 12 at the Mariners’ Museum in Newport News.
Hampton Roads Workforce Council President and CEO Shawn Avery said the agreement is about identifying workforce development opportunities between the two regions and sharing relevant resources in the future.
Australia has a long history of working in maritime defense, but not with nuclear-powered submarines, Darshi Ganeson-Oats, managing director for South Metropolitan TAFE, said in the news release.
“To support the sustainment and the maintenance of nuclear-powered submarines, we need to understand the skills needed for that,” she said. “Then, looking at those skills that are needed, we need to know what training to provide to the workforce to get those skills.”
Australia, with U.S. technology and support, plans to ramp up its own production of nuclear-powered submarines in the coming years.
The U.S., Australia and the United Kingdom signed a trilateral security partnership for the Indo-Pacific region in 2021 known as AUKUS. Per the agreement, Australia will buy U.S.-made Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines to replace its current fleet of diesel electric subs. Newport News Shipbuilding is one of two builders of nuclear-powered submarines for the U.S. Navy.
