A shipbuilding centre currently being built by the Australian Navy – Techport in South Australia – could be used US Navy as a repair base for its warships.
Negotiations are currently underway that could see the US use the A$300m centre, along with other externally operated ports in Japan and Singapore, for repairs.
Techport has already been chosen as the construction base for the Australian Navy’s next generation of submarines, while the country’s new air warfare destroyers worth $8bn could also be built there.
Over 140 US defence engineering and research experts will visit the Port Adelaide shipbuilding facility in May 2010 to examine the facilities.
South Australia Premier Mike Rann said Techport Australia is a safe and secure location to undertake repairs for naval vessels and the new state-of-the-art naval shipbuilding facility could be developed strategically, depending on its user’s needs.
“No other site in Australia will be able to rival the multitude of high-end, professional naval systems and integration skills that will be based there,” Rann said as published on news service Strategy Page.
The facility featues a 213m wharf, the largest shiplift in the southern hemisphere and world-class infrastructure that has been specifically designed to cater for the 9,000t US Arleigh Burke Class guided-missile destroyers.
The construction work at Techport has been over 85%completed and it will be available from February 2010.
