Civmec has begun constructing Australia's biggest undercover shipbuilding facility in Perth's south, confident it will have enough work even before Offshore Patrol Vessel contracts are awarded later this year.
The company has removed the first load of soil from a site next to its already massive Henderson headquarters where the 18-storey high ship building, repair and maintenance facility will be erected.
![Civmec headquarters in Henderson.](/web/20170428222421im_/http://www.watoday.com.au/content/dam/images/g/v/t/0/x/z/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gvt0uj.png/1493189282190.jpg)
"We will be growing the business quite considerably over the coming years," Mike Deeks, the managing director of Civmec subsidiary Forgacs told reporters on Wednesday.
Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne removed the first spade load of soil, saying the expansion, which will see the company to hire an extra 1000 people, was a vote of confidence in the Australian Navy shipbuilding program.
"They believe this government and future governments - because this will go over many decades - are going to be committed to naval shipbuilding here in Australia and are not going to be able to reverse out of it," Mr Pyne said.
He also visited Civmec competitor Austal, which cut the first piece of steel for 19 Pacific Patrol Vessels it has been chosen to build.
Chief operating officer Paddy Gregg said the short list for Offshore Patrol Vessels would be announced in August, with the successful tenderer revealed in December.
He said the company had a continuous pipeline of work for the first time ever, which meant staff would not be laid off between contracts.
- AAP