Ventia has been awarded the 'Base Services Contractor Innovation of the Year' award from Defence Estate & Infrastructure Group (E&IG).
E&IG Deputy Secretary, Mr Steve Grzeskowiak, presented the award to Gavin Campbell, Ventia's Defence Executive General Manager, at the annual Base Services Contractor Council Meeting earlier this month.
Gavin said it was a hotly contested award with competitors Augility, Aurecon, Veolia, Spotless and BGIS all entering competitive submissions.
Ventia received the award for the Universal Shore Power Cable and Hose Management Solution that has been developed for the Royal Australian Navy in conjunction with Onetide, a Perth-based engineering SME.
The innovation resolves a long-standing challenge for Navy in the labour intensive deployment of one tonne shore power cables that vessels must connect to after docking alongside a berth or wharf.
Instead of up to 40 ship's crew manually lifting and carrying the cables to make necessary shore power connection, which can take up to three hours per operation, the Cable Spool has reduced deployment time to around 30 minutes with two personnel.
The Ventia team at Fleet Base West has collaborated with Onetide and its founder and principal engineer, Roy Mitchell, over the past two years, to work closely with Navy, E&IG and Port Services to understand the challenges, develop, refine and implement the solution that significantly reduces manual handling risk for both Defence and Ventia, offers enhanced rest time for ship's crew and improves efficiency in the use of wharf space and resources.
Following successful trials at Fleet Base West, Perth, we are thrilled that Defence has now approved funding for Onetide to manufacture and implement 20 spools at Fleet Base West.
Lucy Cordone (Project Director, South West Zone, Defence Base Services) said that both Onetide and Ventia have learned a lot about the process of innovation and what can be achieved through commitment and perseverance.
This project is an excellent example of the Commonwealth's expectation that prime companies will seek to partner with Australian industry to develop solutions and help drive the development of the Defence industry as well as deliver national and local benefits.