Marine and Defence

Marine and Defence

In addition to the large number of vessels in the reef fleet, which supports tourism, Cairns is also the location of HMAS Cairns naval base. HMAS Cairns has a primary responsibility to provide maintenance, logistic and administrative support for Cairns based units. Cairns-based Norsta Maritime has also been awarded the Regional Maintenance Centre Northeast contract as part of the Australian Department of Defence’s Plan Galileo. The Australian Pacific Patrol Boat Systems Office is also based in Cairns.

Supporting this local maritime Maintenance Repair and Overhauls (MRO) capability is also the three privately operated shipyards: Tropical Reef Shipyard, Norship, and Austal.

The sector is also supported by TAFE Queensland and the Great Barrier Reef International Marine College in Cairns, which has also been awarded the contract to deliver the Australian Government’s Pacific Maritime Training Services Program.