TSAMTO, August 16. The shipbuilding company Austal Limited (Austal) announced the delivery by its Austal Australia division of the Australian Ministry of Defense of the second of eight patrol boats of the "Improved Cape" class ordered for the country's Navy.
The Improved Cape class boats are intended to replace the Armidale class patrol boats in service and will be used as a temporary solution until the new Arafura class naval patrol ships are put into service.
The boat, dubbed "Cape Peron", will be used for border control, fisheries protection and police functions.
The lead boat of the series, "Cape Otway", Austal Australia officially handed over to the customer on March 23 at the enterprise in Henderson (Western Australia). The six remaining boats are at various stages of construction. As planned, their delivery will be completed by 2024.
As reported by TSAMTO, Austal delivered 8 Cape-class patrol ships to the Australian Customs and Coast Guard Service during 2013-2015. In December 2015, Austal signed a contract with the National Bank of Australia for the supply of two additional Cape-class boats, which, after delivery in 2016-2017, were leased to the Australian Ministry of Defense with the right of redemption.
In May 2020, the Australian Ministry of Defense signed a contract with the Austal Australia division for the construction of six Improved Cape class patrol ships for the Australian Navy under an improved project. The cost of the order is about 324 million austr. dollars. The ceremony of laying the keel of the lead ship took place on July 24, 2020. It was transferred to the Australian Navy on March 23, 2022. The launch of the second boat took place on March 5, 2022.
In April 2022, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced that the country's Ministry of Defense had ordered two additional boats of the "Improved Cape" class. The cost of the order is estimated at 124 million AUSTR. dollars. It is planned that all boats will be transferred to the Australian Navy by 2024.
58-meter boats of the Improved Cape class can be used for patrolling the exclusive economic zone, countering smuggling, illegal migration, protecting fisheries, law enforcement, collecting information and intelligence, monitoring the environmental situation, protecting nature reserves.
The improved ship differs from the basic version by a number of modifications, which are based on the experience of operating previously delivered boats. The capacity has been increased by 10 people – up to 32 people, the conditions of crew accommodation have been improved.
