INDUSTRY IN FOCUS
16 | HIRE
AND
RENTAL
NEWS
| FEBRUARY 2014
When the Chief of Navy – Vice Admiral
Ray Griggs, invited over 50 nations to send
a warship and/or tall ship to participate in
an International Fleet Review (IFR) held
in Sydney from 3 – 11 October 2013, the
event culminated in a pyrotechnics and
lightshow spectacular powered by Active
Air Rentals.
The Review celebrated 100 years since
Australia welcomed their first Naval Fleet
into Sydney Harbour. The week-long
celebrations included marches, ship open-
days, inter-navy sporting competitions,
naval memorial and religious services,
community and cultural events as well as a
pyrotechnics and lightshow spectacular.
Under creative agency, Imagination,
suppliers were found to manage the
various roles of supplying this major
event. The projection and lighting for the
spectacular was organised and managed
by lighting and video specialists TDC and
Chameleon Touring.
Due to a previous successful event with
Chameleon Touring, Active Air Rentals
were asked to quote for the power
requirements for the pyrotechnics, audio,
visual and lighting equipment. The power
Warships, Mrs Mac’s Chair and millions of viewers
supply had to:
• Never fail – with over 1 million
spectators, 1.4 million broadcast viewers,
thousands of foreign navy personnel
and hundreds of international press
representatives, everything hinged on
the power working.
• Be quiet – specific venues such as Pier
2 and Admiralty House had to use film-
silenced generators so as to not spoil the
event for VIP guests.
• Have a small footprint – there were
many difficult locations in which the
generators had to be placed - such as
Mrs Macquarie’s Chair and the warships.
• Large fuel tanks and long run times –
with many of the generators placed on
warships they couldn’t be accessed again
for refuelling.
Additionally, there were very specific
timeframes, as many of the locations were
public venues. This meant a lot of after
hours work so as to not disrupt the public.
Small spaces and odd locations also
meant the generator transport had to be
well thought out for each venue.
Active Air proposed 44 prime and back
up generators ranging from 6.5kVA –
275kVA, distribution and cabling and was
awarded the job.
Bump-in occurred over a nine day period
at different times of day and at different
locations to minimise public disturbance.
Nightly equipment tests and daily
maintenance checks were conducted.
On Saturday 5 October the International
Fleet Review Spectacular started. Active Air
staff were positioned in key locations to
ensure all equipment worked as planned.
Fireworks were launched from seven
warships, combining with a light show
from 28 land and ship locations, a 30
minute projection show, live action
on-board ships plus aerial flyovers from
the Navy and Air Force. This was all
choreographed to a stunning soundtrack.
The night didn’t end for the Active Air
team until 3am. All the warship generators
had to be removed by 2am.
John Sweeny, Active Air Rentals Director
said: “The power never failed, there were
no noise problems and there were no
mechanical issues. It’s another example
of our team thinking outside the box and
coming up with a great result.”
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