Newsletter, December 2008, Issue 89
LSA wins race for $7m RN contract
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Liferaft Systems Australia (LSA) secured its biggest single order in November - a $7 million contract to provide marine evacuation systems for the two biggest aircraft carriers the Royal Navy has ever commissioned. The Derwent Park manufacturer, run by Brand Tasmania Council member Mike Grainger, will be kept busy for 12 months constructing large-scale inflatable evacuation systems for the British Ministry of Defence. LSA is a world leader in the development and supply of marine evacuation systems (MESs), but it had to beat competitors from Britain, Denmark and France for the coveted contract. ‘This is an amazing contract for Tasmania and we need to tell the world about it,” Mr Grainger, LSA’s Managing Director since it was established 16 years ago, told a media gathering at the company’s Derwent Park factory.
Mr Grainger said the company had been working to finalise the deal for about 18 months after being approached by British officials who had been impressed by the quality and design of its MESs. LSA will provide 12 20m-long inflatable slides which can be deployed about 12m above water level, along with 60 100-person inflatable life rafts. LSA has previously provided marine-evacuation systems to the French, Dutch, British and United States navies, but this is the first contract involving aircraft carriers. HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales are huge warships, similar in length and weight to the recently retired super-liner QE2.
LSA employs 75 people and has enough work to occupy them until the end of 2010, even without further orders. A modest recruitment program is likely. Mr Grainger said LSA had invested heavily and consistently in research and development since the early 1990s and had built an international reputation for quality, reliability and design excellence. About 98 per cent of production goes to export markets. Mr Grainger said LSA’s competitive advantages included the weight and size of its systems and the fact that no other MES could evacuate 100 people in about 3˝ minutes.
For other stories in this month’s newsletter, please click on the headlines
Bream Creek outshines the Kiwis
A Tasmanian sauvignon blanc knocked the Kiwis off their perch to win top place in the category at the 2008 Wrest Point Royal Hobart International Wine Show in November. If you would like to read Graeme Phillips report on a strong over-all Tasmanian showing, please click on the headline.
Read more...Autech puts style at your fingertips
Digital colour specialist, Autech Software & Design, is developing an inter-active, touch-screen approach to fashion shopping that has potential to be the next big thing in the global rag trade. If you would like to read more about another stunning Tasmanian innovation, please click on the headline.
Read more...Info highway widens in ‘09
Broadband internet speed will increase and prices for internet access will fall in Tasmania when Aurora Energy and Basslink Pty Ltd begin competing against each other and monopoly-holder Telstra in 2009. If you would like to read more on the fibre-optic cable deal and other ICT sector developments, please click on the headline.
Read more...Rabbit plague: an unlikely, true story
Launceston based writer Stephen Dando-Collins has uncovered new historical information about the pre-Federation Australasian rabbit plague, Henry Parkes, Louis Pasteur and even Sarah Bernhardt in researching his latest book. Pasteur’s Gambit: Louis Pasteur, the Australasian Rabbit Plague And A Ten Million Dollar Prize. If you would like to read Christopher Bantick’s review, please click on the headline.
Read more...Me Wah, Angasi lead nation
Tasmania’s restaurants have been keeping pace with our award-winning wine-makers this spring, with Hobart’s Me Wah and Binalong Bay’s Angasi Restaurant respectively named Australia’s best Chinese restaurant and Australia’s best café/restaurant at the National Restaurant and Caterers Awards in Sydney. If you would like to read Graeme Phillips report, please click on the headline.
Read more...Mona comes foaming into town
A new cultural festival, MONA FOMA, that will bring the free-thinking philosophy of the embryonic Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) to the streets of Hobart in January is the lead story in this month’s News-in-Brief. We also report on the business case for a Tasmanian AFL team; progress with Tasmania’s skills upgrade; investment topping $8.75 million and lots more. If you would like to read the December edition of News-in-Brief please click on the headline.
Read more...For further information contact:
Robert Heazlewood
Executive Director
Robert.Heazlewood@brandtasmania.com
Mike Jenkinson
Communications Consultant
editor@brandtasmania.com