On 8 December 2017, the Australian Department of Defence released Request for Tender (RFT) documents relating to the Project SEA 2400 Phase 1 HydroScheme Industry Partnership Program (HIPP). The RFT closed 29 March 2018.
Since 1920 the Department of Defence, on behalf of the Australian Government, has been responsible for providing both national and military hydrographic services across the vast Australian Charting Area (ACA). The Australian Hydrographic Office (AHO) is the national authority on hydrographic matters and is responsible for delivering hydrographic services to meet the demands of the maritime community in line with national and international standards. The requirement for these services stems primarily from Australia’s obligations under the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the Navigation Act 2012. Previously the majority of hydrographic services undertaken by Defence supported these requirements to ensure safety of navigation for mariners but left little capacity to undertake data collection activities that directly support military interests.
To realise greater efficiencies, the SEA 2400 Phase 1 – Hydrographic Data Collection Capability project will implement a combination of military and commercial environ-mental data collection capabilities, driving fundamental change to how these services will be delivered. The HydroScheme Industry Partnership Program (HIPP) is the commercial element, which will enable industry to grow and deliver a sustainable, productive and efficient program to support the National Survey Task.
The strategic intent for HIPP seeks to complement other national strategic plans and outlines the research, infrastructure, skills, partnerships and investment that will drive the required changes over the future years. For example, Australia’s National Marine Science Plan 2025 states that, ‘to fulfil the known potential and yet-to-be-discovered possibilities of our ocean estate, we face seven challenges’, with the identified challenges as:
- maintaining marine sovereignty and security
- achieving energy security
- ensuring food security
- conserving our biodiversity and ecosystem health
- creating sustainable urban coastal development
- understanding and adapting to climate variability and change
- developing equitable and balanced resource allocation
Activities undertaken through the HIPP program will contribute to better understan-ding and mitigating these identified challenges in order to deliver long-term and beneficial economic, environmental, and security outcomes for Australia. Through the HIPP, the Australian Government will partner with Industry to meet national survey task obligations that will, over the medium to long term, help drive fundamental change in the delivery of defence hydrographic and oceanographic services and the development and innovation of environmental data collection capabilities. As we embrace and prepare for the next generation of hydrographic services, the AHO will continue to evolve and be in a position to fully leverage partnerships and collaborative relationships with both Industry and a range of other Government agencies and organisations. For further information, please send an email to the Project Contact Officer via the SEA.2400@defence.gov.au email address.