Barrow Island pristine waters

Coates Hire helps Chevron maintain Barrow Island as a World Heritage reserve. 

Coates Hire’s West Business Unit – Industrial Services division, has been recognised for maintaining environmental standards at one of the world’s most unique and pristine wilderness parks. The team received a Quarantine Excellence Award from Chevron Australia in December 2018, relating to Coates Hire’s work in helping to honour the quarantine requirements that Chevron enforces on its Barrow Island LNG operations in WA.

Barrow Island is a Class A World Heritage nature reserve which is home to 24 native species of animal found nowhere else on earth. In order to develop the $65 billion Gorgon gas project on this 234 square-kilometre island – and not disrupt the unique flora and fauna – Chevron developed a Barrow Island Quarantine Management System, which is the world's largest non-government quarantine initiative. It provides an unprecedented level of quarantine intervention across all operations and sets new benchmarks for environmental protection.

All equipment destined for Barrow Island is thoroughly cleaned, inspected and certified before being transported to the island, 60 kilometres off the Pilbara coast of Western Australia. As part of the stringent quarantine process, all workers travelling to the island have their shoes and pockets checked for environmental compliance before departing from the mainland.
Coates Hire National Key Account Manager, Anton de St Pern, says that due to the strict quarantine requirements, and since Coates Hire is the Master Contractor for the services contract and equipment lease, the company has implemented internal processes to ensure that quarantine standards are honoured.

Coates Hire operates a Tool Store and Branch facility with a number of staff on Barrow Island, to supply a comprehensive range of hydraulic, torque and specialised tools as well as other equipment such as generators, compressors, lighting towers and elevated work platforms.

De St Pern says that Coates Hire has partnered with Chevron under contract since 2013 and has successfully had the contract extended to 2020.

“Our award was in the culture category, recognising the work we do in ensuring that Coates Hire is committed to the environmental goals of Chevron for Barrow Island.”

“Every piece of equipment we hire is inspected, cleaned, fumigated where necessary and certified before leaving for the island,” says de St Pern. “Not a single seed, insect or cob web can be brought from the mainland. We take our compliance to quarantine standards very seriously.”