ASC Pty Ltd (Australian Shipbuilding Company Pty Ltd), formerly the Australian Submarine Corporation, is an Australian government business enterprise involved with Australian naval shipbuilding, headquartered in Osborne, South Australia. It is notable for the construction and maintenance of the fleet operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) and the construction of three s for the RAN with the first delivered in mid-2017. History The Australian Submarine Corporation was formed when Kockums (designer of the ) became part of a joint venture with the Australian branch of Chicago Bridge & Iron, Wormald International, and the Australian Industry Development Corporation to construct the six vessels. The ASC construction facility was established on previously undeveloped land on the bank of the Port River, at Osborne, South Australia. Work on the site began on 29 June 1987, and it was opened in November 1989. South Australia had been selected as the site of the construction facility based on the proposed location of the facility and promises by the State Government to help minimise any problems caused by workers unions. By the end of 1990, Chicago Bridge & Iron and Wormald International had both sold their shares in ASC. The shares were bought up by Kockums and the Australian Industry Development Corporation, with some of Kockums' shares then sold to James Hardie Industries to maintain an Australian majority ownership of the company. On 5 April 2000, the shares in ASC held by Kockums were bought out and the company was nationalised, despite a trend by the Howard Government towards privatisation of government-owned companies. In 1991 the company had brought the insolvent Carrington Slipways in New South Wales to expand operations. The company's name was changed from the Australian Submarine Corporation Pty Ltd to ASC Pty Ltd on 1 October 2004 to position it as a supplier of naval combat vessels in addition to being a specialist submarine supplier and maintainer. The name was specifically selected to reflect "the company’s future business and shipbuilding activities" and the establishment of their shipbuilding operations. On 31 May 2005, ASC was selected by the Australian Government as the preferred shipbuilder for RAN's Air Warfare Destroyers (AWDs) under the SEA 4000 acquisition contract, one the largest in Australian Defence history. The Australian Government granted first pass approval for the project and provided $455 million to ASC towards "the next phase of activities including further design work, workforce skilling, initial infrastructure