The Australian Marine Complex Common User Facility (AMC CUF) Floating Dock is a key piece of Western Australia’s marine infrastructure, supporting defence, commercial marine and offshore vessels. Since its commissioning in 2009, demand for docking and maintenance services has continued to grow, with recent years recording a notable increase in lift and launch activity across the State’s marine sector.
As docking demand increased, pressure on cradle availability became a key operational challenge. Vessels often occupy cradles for extended periods, limiting flexibility and, in some cases, preventing the Floating Dock from supporting additional projects. These constraints highlighted the need to expand cradle capacity to keep the dock moving and responsive to customer needs.
To address this, the AMC CUF invested in fifteen new, locally manufactured cradles with a flexible, modular design. Developed in collaboration with the facility’s lifting system operator and industry users, the new cradles support a wider range of vessel sizes and maintenance activities, increasing overall capacity and operational efficiency.
This case study demonstrates how targeted investment is enabling the AMC CUF Floating Dock to reduce downtime, improve efficiency and continue meeting growing demand across Western Australia’s marine industry—now and into the future.
Read the full case study and launch overview in the PDF here.
