HII-KBR JV picked to run Australia’s new Naval Shipbuilding College

Australia's Minister for Defence Industry, Christopher Pyne

APRIL 3, 2018 — Australia’s Minister for Defence Industry, Christopher Pyne, said today that the Naval Shipbuilding Institute, a joint venture between Kellogg Brown & Root and Huntington Ingalls Industries, has been selected  as the preferred tenderer to establish and manage Australia’s new Naval Shipbuilding College.

Minister Pyne said the Naval Shipbuilding Institute (NSI) team represents over 200 years of commercial experience in naval shipbuilding education and skilling.

“The NSI team has a proven track record of developing shipbuilders and will bring to Australia their collective experience in naval shipbuilding skilling and education,” Minister Pyne said.

“The Naval Shipbuilding College will collaborate with key education and industry providers to ensure Australia can increase the size and skill level of the naval shipbuilding and sustainment workforce we need.

“More than 25,000 personnel will be needed directly or indirectly for the Government’s AUD 90 billion commitment to a continuous shipbuilding program. The naval shipbuilding workforce in Australia is likely to grow to around 5,200 workers by the mid‑2020s, across a range of diverse job roles.”

“We are pleased that the Australian government has entrusted our HII-KBR team with this important mission,” HII Technical Solutions President Andy Green said. “The HII-KBR team offers a strong combination of workforce development and training expertise that will be the foundation for the future success of the Naval Shipbuilding Institute. At HII we have been developing shipbuilders for over 100 years, and we will build upon this to help grow a strong, well-qualified workforce for Australia’s naval shipbuilding and sustainment industry.”

HII and KBR have put together a team from the shipbuilding, education, training, academic and business sectors across Australia to ensure the mission of the Naval Shipbuilding College is properly executed. These organizations include the Australian Maritime College in Launceston; Australian vocational education and training providers (TAFE) in Adelaide and Fremantle; and AiGroup, Manpower Group, PwC, Defence Teaming Centre and the Defence Industry Educational Skills Consortium, all of which have extensive national presence across Australia. The team will leverage and build upon existing Australian capability to successfully deliver world-class workforce services for the college.