DNV has launched a dedicated ANZ Naval Centre, strengthening its support for defence organisations across Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) through the provision of independent assurance, naval classification, and technical services.
The launch of the Centre builds on decades of support to the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN), defence agencies, and the maritime industry across Australasia.
"Both Australia and New Zealand are at the beginning of incredibly important programmes to uplift their naval capabilities, in both ship building and sustainment, while building the associated knowledge, technology, workforce, and industrial base required to fulfil both navies long term strategic goals. At DNV, we firmly believe that there is a growing role for independent assurance and trusted technical expertise to support navies on these complex projects helping maintain confidence in on-time project delivery and operational readiness, especially as defence programmes become more sophisticated and technology-driven. The ANZ Naval Centre gives us a new platform to bring DNV’s global expertise closer to customers in the region and support the development of strong sovereign naval capabilities over the coming years," Global Segment Director for Navy at DNV, Wolf-Rüdiger von Toll, said.
The ANZ Naval Centre will serve as a dedicated regional hub for maritime defence, giving customers easy access to DNV’s locally based specialists as well as global naval experience. The Centre is set up to provide independent technical assurance, classification, and regulatory and seaworthiness support for naval assets across their entire lifecycle.
"The ANZ Naval Centre is all about making it easier for customers to access the breadth of expertise they need, by bringing together an established team from across the region that has deep naval classification, technical, and assurance expertise. As the importance of autonomous and uncrewed systems and remote operations continues to grow, we’re working alongside customers to understand the potential risks, and make sure these new capabilities can be deployed optimally and effectively. Our experience in shore-based monitoring and Remote Operations Centre capabilities can also help customers gain a clearer picture of what is happening across their operations and use that insight to support day-to-day decisions," Maritime at DNV, Southeast Asia, Pacific & India, Vice President & Regional Naval Director, Denzal Hargreaves, said.
The ANZ Naval Centre also brings together individuals with experience working with the Defence Seaworthiness Management System (DSwMS), Australian Naval Classification Authority (ANCA) rules and other applicable defence regulatory frameworks. Many personnel hold AGSVA or equivalent security clearances, supported by defence-aligned security arrangements.
DNV has been active in Australasia from many years, an example of which is the Approval Centre Sydney (ACS), which was established in 1990. For more than three decades, the ACS has provided plan approval and technical design assessment to defence and commercial shipbuilding projects in ANZ.