Babcock Australasia has expanded its servicing portfolio to include Arafura-class Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs), further strengthening its operational scope as Regional Maintenance Provider West (RMP West). A four-week Intermediate Maintenance Availability (IMAV) was successfully completed on NUSHIP Arafura in early April, assisting in setting the maintenance baseline for the new Commonwealth vessel.
Babcock’s staff and repair agents dedicated over 4,000 working hours to the maintenance effort, providing precision servicing to key ship systems along with multiple ancillary craft on board the OPV, including Rigid Hull Inflatable Boats and Rapid Intercept Craft. The schedule was conducted simultaneously alongside ongoing work by shipbuilder Luerssen Australia, which has ensured the successful achievement of Initial Operational Release under project SEA1180. The IMAV was RMP West’s inaugural maintenance task completed at HMAS Stirling’s newly extended Oxley Wharf on Garden Island off the coast of Western Australia.
NUSHIP Arafura is the first new ship and the first of its fleet class to undergo servicing through the Maritime Sustainment Model, a Defence initiative standardising RAN fleet maintenance while strengthening Australian industry and sovereign sustainment. The addition of a new fleet class into Babcock’s sustainment portfolio builds on its extensive maintenance capability across Australasia and globally, where it supports six navies and employs more than 7,500 marine specialists. Babcock designs, builds and updates some of the world’s most complex ships and submarines, while providing through-life support to keep fleets mission-ready and navies sailing safely.
Babcock Australasia RMP-West Program Director Gary Potts said: “RMP-West’s latest maintenance delivery was a milestone of firsts: the first new vessel, the first Arafura class, and the first use of Oxley Wharf for RMP West. It marks a leap forward in efficiency, with streamlined maintenance procedures ensuring optimal performance and longevity for the fleet. In addition to the ship’s crew, Babcock worked in close collaboration with stakeholders from the Regional Maintenance Centre, Navy’s Minor Vessel Systems Program Office, and SEA1180 contractor, Luerssen Australia. Importantly it has given our supply chain repair agents exposure to a new asset class, including a substantial number of organic maintenance tasks that offered key learnings. Babcock is dedicated to uplifting sovereign capability, while providing value and on-time delivery to the Commonwealth through our inclusive contracting model.”
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Lots of feel good news about sovereign capability and supply chain maintenance but it hides the glaring fact that these ships decades behind where they should be. First mooted in the 2009 White Paper it was nine years before the first keel was laid and now seven years later it still NUSHIP Arafura. Because of the Bureaucratic bumbling of the DoD and the constant interference from the Navy, that’s sixteen years to build an 80 meter Vessel. Originally a ship that rationalised Patrol,Mine Warfare and Hydrographic duties it is anybody’s guess what it will be now. The waste of money is appalling, Either the ship is wanted or it’s not, Either the Navy wants Patrol Vessels or not, if not hand them over to the ABF and divert themselves of the task. If they believe only they can perform the duties, stop interfering and get on with it. The ADF needs a good shake up and the place to start is the RAN , get rid of the Politicians in Admirals Uniforms and get on with the job. No wonder the PLA Navy can circumnavigate Australia with impunity. I come from a long line of Navy People and and at present I’m ashamed to admit it.The Henderson ship builders should be commended for actually getting a hull in the water.
Sadly not much more than a big fishing boat. Unless someone in Navy or defence actually decides to retrofit this class with some decent offensive or defensive weapons it is only fit for fisheries duties.
Link below reveals Arafura class has discovered its purpose in life, marketing Israel’s C-Dome Missile Modules.Add AI, a Naval Strike Missile pod and lightweight torpedo launcher, this lemon’s got potential as a suicide drone
.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWLt6AOnh94&list=PLAAOdsPBnN8aJe9_6-IQvtFKMuf_gyHMI&index=3
If all we needed was more Cape Class type boats then why did we waste Luerssen’s time and taxpayer’s money on the Arafuras?
Was the thought process something along the lines of “Bigger Boat = Higher Ranking Commander = Jobs for the Boys”?
I have absolutely no idea. The Arafuras (SEA 1180) is one of the most bungled, mismanaged Defence projects I have ever seen – and that’s really saying something.
In answer to Alan , the original idea was for 20 vessels of a similar base design that would replace 26 hulls across 4 Classes, Armidale OPVs, Huon MHC, Leeuwin and Paluma Hydrographic vessels. The Arafura was chosen because of its multi mission capability with the added bonus or being fairly heavily armed. Then the interference and complete sabotaging by Navy happened.
There are many aspects of the mismanagement of SEA 1180 that if they were not so serious and costly would be hilarious. One of my favourites is how RAN / CASG managed to completely stuff up the issue of the main gun. The parent ships all have the Bofors 57mm gun – one of the best in its class. But the RAN in their infinite wisdom decided they preferred 40mm. An acceptable replacement from Bofors was available, but instead they decided to award the contract to Leonardo because it was cheaper. A couple of years in, they realised that Leonardo hadn’t sold it to anyone else and so they were going to be the lead customer – oh the horror! On that basis they cancelled the contract. So on top of what they had already paid on the contract for things such as the simulator they also had to pay a break-contract fee of many more millions of dollars. All of this done fairly much in secret because it was a massive display of total incompetence. In many other countries where officials bungled things to this extent they would be sacked – or even jailed.