AWARDS 2022 | Best Security Support Vessel – M30 – Birdon Group

These immensely practical and versatile little boats are designated BEBs or bridge erection boats, but they have a multitude of other potential uses.

Produced, interestingly, by an Australian company for the United States Army for operations in the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico, these boats possess equipment that are cosmopolitan, but they are powerful and very functional. These boats may look small and boxy, but those boxes contain many interesting ideas.

"The BEB was selected by the US Army in 2013 as the preferred replacement for an existing boat series," Birdon told Baird Maritime. "In its primary mission mode, the BEB provides propulsion, thrust, and stabilisation to support tactical float bridging and rafting operations in contested environments and for humanitarian purposes around the globe.

"It is specifically designed using a waterjet propulsion system to provide high thrust and to operate in debris-laden waters including floodwaters and seawater."

Birdon added that the BEB's current design was derived from the Australian Bridge Erection Propulsion Boat, which the company built for the Australian Army in 2004. Improvements to the design used in the American BEB were then incorporated back into the Australian version with Birdon's Life of Type Extension works in 2016/2017.

"Having teams working across the world can be a challenge, but it brings great rewards, and the breadth of experience within the company transfers across all projects."

Birdon said there is quite a push at the moment within Australia and across the Asia-Pacific region to improve and expand capability particularly in the littoral zone, where ease of movement between land and water is key.

"Moving troops and equipment across waterways and onto land with bridging systems, landing craft, and amphibious capability, this demonstrates that the Australian government understands how critical and challenging this zone of operation is."

Birdon sees the littoral zone as continuing to be understood as a critical zone of operation, requiring a specialised capability, particularly in the Asia-Pacific and Australasian regions. The shipbuilding industry is also being characterised partly by autonomous systems becoming more prominent, with fleets carrying out missions without putting personnel in danger or having them repeat monotonous tasks, or tasks that require constant and strenuous focus.

"We also anticipate major improvements in shipbuilding technology, both digital and industrial, that will provide a reduction in basic labour hours and an increase in skilled labour requirements, providing an overall increase in build efficiency and workforce upskilling."

Birdon said it is in a sustained period of growth, growing steadily over the past decade from an Australian SME employing around 150 personnel to its position now, where it has established a global presence delivering significant programs as a prime contractor, contracting direct to governments, in particular, the Australian Department of Defence, the US Army, US Coast Guard, US Navy, and other allied governments. Current orders now total over US$2 billion, and the company employs over 500 skilled personnel worldwide.

Birdon sees itself as having always been a regionally-based shipbuilder that thinks globally, investing in the communities in which it lives and works and expanding capabilities and offerings worldwide.

"Ease of communication across geographic locations means that increasingly, more of our workforce can be located anywhere in the world," the company told Baird Maritime. "We will continue to see advancements in machine learning and autonomous systems, which will be implemented into the shipbuilding processes, as well as into the mission systems themselves."

For a list of the 2022 "Best Of" award winners, please click here.