The Australian Federal Government announced that German ship building company ‘Lurssen’ will be awarded a $2.7 billion contract to deliver ten Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs) for the Royal Australian Navys.
Under this contract, Lurssen will build 10 OPVs, which are set to o be built in Henderson, Western Australia, subject to the conclusion of commercial negotiations.
In order to build the vessels, Lurssen will cooperate with Austal and Civmec.
Twelve OPVs will be built in total, with the first two being built in Adelaide by ASC.
The new OPVs will be used to perform intelligence and surveillance missions, search and rescue, humanitarian assistance, disaster relief and border protection patrols.
“The vessels will be fitted with a 40mm gun for self-protection, three 8.4m sea boats, state of the art sensors as well as command and communication systems. This will allow the OPVs to operate alongside Australian Border Force vessels, other Australian Defence Force units and our regional partners,” Royal Australian Navy said.
The first ship is due to enter service in 2021.
