Austal Rolls Out First Cape Class Patrol Boat For Royal Australian Navy

Austal (ASX:ASB) is pleased to announce the successful roll out prior to launch of Hull 380, the ninth Cape-class patrol boat designed and constructed by Austal and the first of two to be delivered to the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) in 2017.

Australian Defence Industry Minister, The Hon. Christopher Pyne MP, Senator Chris Back and Federal Member for Canning, Andrew Hastie MP joined Austal Chief Executive Officer David Singleton and Austal Chairman, John Rothwell at the official roll out, completed at Austal’s Henderson Western Australia shipyard.

Mr Singleton said: “It is with great pride we welcome the Defence Industry Minister here today to celebrate not only the continuing success of Cape-class as an effective maritime border protection solution, but Austal’s proven shipbuilding capability.

“Austal delivered eight Capes to the Australian Border Force over 2013 – 2015 and we will hand over Capes 9 and 10 to the Royal Australian Navy in the first half of 2017. To date, we have directly engaged 348 Australian suppliers and created and sustained 350 jobs in the delivery of the Cape program.”

Austal’s Cape-class patrol boat is a 58 metre all aluminium monohull vessel, designed to perform border protection and maritime security tasks, with a top speed of 26 knots and a range of up to 4,000 nautical miles. With a crew of 22, the vessel is capable of undertaking 28 day patrols in (up to) sea state 4 and the ability to launch two boats simultaneously.

New, enhanced maritime security and anti-mine warfare variants of the Cape were announced at Euronaval 2016, which offer even greater capability and feature mission packages that include unmanned aerial vehicle’s (UAV’s), unmanned surface vessel (USV’s) and unmanned underwater vehicles (UUV’s).

Hull 380 is due to be launched later this week and will undergo final fitout before sea trials commencing in January 2017. Delivery to the RAN is on schedule for April 2017.

The second Cape for the RAN, Hull 381, is due for launch in February 2017.

Defence Industry Minister The Hon. Christopher Pyne MP meeting some of the Austal production team during the rollout of Hull 380; the first Cape-class patrol boat to be delivered to the Royal Australian Navy. (Photo: Austal)

Austal’s Cape-class patrol boat program for the Royal Australian Navy has directly engaged 348 Australian suppliers and directly employed 350 people over the past 12 months of construction. (Photo: Austal)

Austal CEO David Singleton welcomed Minister for Defence Industry The Hon Christopher Pyne MP, Senator Chris Back and Federal Member for Canning, Andrew Hastie MP to Austal for the roll out of Hull 380, the first Cape-class patrol boat for the Royal Australian Navy. (Photo: Austal)

The Cape-class patrol boat is an effective maritime border protection capability, in service with the Australian Border Force and Royal Australian Navy. (Photo: Austal)

-ENDs-

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 260 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 U.S. 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. Our 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 our shipyard in Balamban, Philippines.

Systems

Austal has expertise in integrating complex systems into its ships, including ride control, ship management, and communication, sensors and weapon systems.

Support

Austal provides a wide range of support services, including through life support, integrated logistics support, vessel sustainment and systems support. These services are delivered through our global support network in the USA, Australia, Asia, and the Middle East together with partner shipyards worldwide.