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The ASC apprentices are helping manufacture unique items for installation on the ship and restore the clipper to its original form.
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Built in 1864, the City of Adelaide clipper made 23 voyages between London and Adelaide transporting passengers before spending years neglected in Scotland. It has since been housed in South Australia’s Port Adelaide since 2014, with volunteers reportedly looking to build a period “seaport village” to accompany the ship.
Though, ASC this week confirmed that it had entered into an agreement with the City of Adelaide Preservation Trust — the volunteer organisation that maintains the ship — to help produce unique products for the ship to “restore the ship’s historic features”.
The apprentices are scheduled to begin by developing customised stanchions, which ASC explained were upright metal and railing structures.
According to ASC managing director and chief executive officer Stuart Whiley, not only does the partnership for the restoration of the City of Adelaide help the community but it also helps the apprentices enhance their skillsets.
“The complexity of working with a system as sophisticated as a submarine exposes our apprentices to a wide range of challenges and problem-solving tasks,” he said.
“Extending that to the City for Adelaide clipper restoration project gives our apprentices another context in which to develop their skills and demonstrate the results to the public.
“This is an exciting new partnership with the City for Adelaide, which will contribute to supporting local heritage and further improve our community for the future.”
The agreement is scheduled to be ongoing, where the partners can commence extra projects for the ship as necessary.
Peter Christopher, director of the City of Adelaide Preservation Trust, explained that the partnership will expedite the restoration work.
“The work to be undertaken by ASC apprentices will significantly speed up the restoration work being undertaken by our volunteers,” Christopher said.
“The City of Adelaide is of composite construction, with a wooden hull over an iron frame, enabling metal work projects to be undertaken by the apprentices.”
According to ASC, the organisation already employs over 70 apprentices across Western Australia and South Australia with an additional intake scheduled for 2023.
Already, apprentices have welcomed the opportunity to engage with different and exciting work.
“Getting to work on submarines is extremely rewarding and exciting. It’s challenging and complex work, and we know we are doing something important for Australia,” ASC apprentice Connor Norris said.
“This project with the City for Adelaide means that we get to take that work out into the community, show people what we can do, and contribute to the future of Port Adelaide.
“It’s going to be nice to know that there’s a little piece of our work on the clipper ship, which people and their children will get to see every day when they go through on tours.”
[Related: ASC opens submarine innovation hub]
