DCN0718_Combined_150

LOGISTICS & SUPPLY CHAIN
The Port of Broome
ONSLOW
A project billed as the first to be
bankrolled by the NAIF is another
project set to get underway on Western
Australia’s northern coast.
Owned by a private company, the
Onslow Marine Support Base (OMSB) is
to receive a NAIF loan of up to $16.8m
for a multi-user infrastructure port and
marine supply project.
The OMSB is to provide supply and
support services for onshore and offshore
businesses, such as logistics, fuel supply,
waste management and construction and
maintenance for companies operating in
the Carnarvon Basin.
NAIF chief executive Laurie Walker
told DCN its loan would fund the second
stage of the project with the deepening of
the harbour channel by 5.5 metres (chart
datum), thus allowing access for larger
vessels.
“It means that the whole project
is much more useable by more cargo
vessels,” she said.
NAIF is partnering with National
Australia Bank to finance the project,
which helps meet its aim of encouraging
private-sector investors to help build
infrastructure for the benefit of northern
Australia.
“Obviously we’ve done an assessment
that the growth will come and there’s an
operator that’s been engaged… a credible
operator that understands the industry
and has committed to the project,” Ms
Walker said.
Ms Walker said one way NAIF was
different from other financiers was it had
to demonstrate a net public benefit from
each of its investment decisions.
“The benefit of this project is predicted
to be in the region of $100m,” she said,
adding that it was over the life of the
ten-year loan,” she said.
“This is based on the jobs that the
project will create, reduced costs to
businesses, and the time that logistics
companies would have had on the road
to get to and from Perth.
Above: Kevin Schellack, chief executive of the
Kimberley Ports Authority
“It will also mean the maintenance of
vessels can be done in the region rather
than going to Singapore.”
NAIF and OMSB say the loan has
brought forward the development of the
project by three to five years.
“We have a mandatory criterion that
there must be an indigenous engagement
plan, and there are comprehensive
guidelines around participation and
employment,” Ms Walker said.
“And, in this case, it will be targeted
and appropriate for the region. There are
strategies that the proponent committed
to… and after speaking to indigenous
leaders in the region, we are comfortable
there is a good strategy in place.”
When the NAIF board decided to invest
in the OMSB, its investment mandate
stated NAIF had to have a preference for
the loan size to be a minimum of $50m
and only 50% of the debt.
Ms Walker said there likely would
be at least three to five investment
decisions made before the end of the
2017-18 financial year.
“We have now got a pipeline
that’s building up and I expect that
momentum to keep flowing,” she said.
NAIF
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First published in 1891
July 2018 thedcn.com.au