HMAS Sydney to host open day during Albany visit this weekend as part of Maritime Festival

Naval warship HMAS Sydney will visit Albany for the first time this weekend and give the public the chance to go behind the scenes during an open day as part of the Maritime Festival.

The Royal Australian Navy ship is visiting Albany as part of it’s first journey to WA, marking the first time a Hobart-class destroyer has visited the State.

HMAS Sydney’s 212-person company will travel to Albany this week as they make their way south from Exmouth and return to the east coast after being at sea for three weeks.

Commanding Officer Grant Coleman said the ship would arrive in Albany on Friday and conduct navigation training in King George Sound before berthing.

Cdr Coleman said the open day on Saturday from 10.30am to 4.30pm would include tours of the ship’s internal areas, weapons systems and interactive displays and allow members of the public to speak directly with crew members.

“We’ll have about 60 sailors onboard supporting the open day and they’re all very happy to talk about their experiences of the varied and diverse careers that they can have in the Navy,” he said.

“There’s over 55 different types of jobs available to people, so pretty much whatever anyone’s interest is, you can find somebody in the Navy to talk about it.”

The variety involved in Naval deployment was on display recently when HMAS Sydney was tasked with helping extract an injured mariner from an oil tanker in the remote Indian Ocean.

“We were recently asked by the Australian Rescue Coordination Centre to render some support to a mariner in need, and we were very pleased to be able to do that about 800 miles west of Perth,” Cdr Coleman said.

“We’re fortunate we are trained for a wide variety of tasks, and we’re fairly adaptable to be able to respond to that.”

Albany Mayor Dennis Wellington welcomed the Navy to Albany for the second consecutive year as part of the Maritime Festival.

He said more than 1000 people had attended last year’s HMAS Anzac open day.

“We are thrilled that the Navy will be supporting the festival again with a visit from HMAS Sydney as part of the All at Sea Saturday event,” Mr Wellington said.

“It’s a wonderful opportunity for our community and visitors to learn more about the ship’s vital role in Australia’s defence forces.”

Access to HMAS Sydney is available only through a shuttle bus transfer from the Albany Boatshed.

Bookings are essential and can be made at https://www.defencejobs.gov.au/events/events-detail/oderuci