First of two new Cape-class PBs delivered for RAN

WA shipbuilder Austal today announced that the first of two Cape-class patrol boats for the Royal Australian Navy has been delivered.

CAPTION: The first of two Cape Class Patrol Boats for the Royal Australian Navy, the Australian Defence Vessel (ADV) Cape Fourcroy. Austral photo.

Australian Defence Vessel (ADV) Cape Fourcroy was built at Austal’s Henderson shipyard in Western Australia.

The two 58m Cape-class patrol vessels will be chartered by the Commonwealth of Australia on behalf of the Royal Australian Navy, which awarded the A$63 million contract to Austal in December 2015.

Austal Chief Executive Officer David Singleton said the delivery highlighted Austal’s proven capability to design and build defence vessels – a record that has seen the company build 72 patrol boats for domestic and international markets before this delivery.

“This latest Cape-class, for the Royal Australian Navy, further strengthens Austal’s position as the only patrol-boat designer and builder in Australia and a major world-class exporter for this class of vessels,” Mr Singleton said.

“The delivery of this vessel clearly shows Austal’s unrivalled ability to design and construct defence vessels on-time and on-budget.

“Austal has been building patrol boats for more than 20 years and we look forward to more work in the future.

“This includes the opportunity to design and build 12 new offshore patrol vessels for the Australian Navy with our design partner Fassmer in a continuous shipbuilding initiative being driven by the government,” Mr Singleton said.

Austal currently has an order book of 20 patrol vessels to be delivered over the next four years and has successfully competed in a number of overseas markets.

Austal is currently proposing variations of its Bay-class, Cape-class and Guardian-class patrol boats for customers in the Middle East and Asia and expects this activity to bring further construction work to Australia.

Mr Singleton said exports derived from national defence programs show the multiplier effect on creating jobs out of Austal’s strong and hard-won reputation in overseas markets.

The Royal Australian Navy currently operates two Cape-class patrol boats – ADV Cape Byron and ADV Cape Nelson – on behalf of Australian Border Force, to complement its Armidale-class patrol-boat capability on Operation Resolute.

The current two Cape-class patrol boats are each manned by two crews, ‘Port’ and ‘Starboard’, with one crew embarked and one disembarked at any given time.

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About Austal

Austal is a global defence prime contractor and a designer and manufacturer of defence and commercial ships. For more than 28 years Austal has been a leader in the design, construction and maintenance of revolutionary ships for governments, navies and ferry operators around the world. More than 255 vessels have been delivered in that time.

Ships

Defence vessels designed and built by Austal include multi-mission combatants, such as the littoral combat ship (LCS) for the United States Navy and military high-speed vessels for transport and humanitarian relief, such as the expeditionary fast transport (EPF) ships for the US Navy and high-speed support vessel (HSSV) for the Royal Navy of Oman. Austal also designs, constructs, integrates and maintains an extensive range of patrol and auxiliary vessels for government agencies globally, including the Cape-class patrol boat program for Australian Border Force. Defence vessels are designed and constructed in Mobile, Alabama and in Henderson, Western Australia.

Austal has been at the forefront of the high speed ferry market since the early days of the industry. Its market leading designs of high performance aluminium vessels have long been at the heart of Austal’s research and development. Today, commercial ship construction is centred on its shipyard in Balamban, Philippines.

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