The Chief of of the Royal Australian Navy, Vice Admiral Michael Noonan, has announced the names of the next five Arafura-class Offshore Patrol Vessels for the RAN, these being the HMAS Eyre, Pilbara, Gippsland, Illawarra and Carpentaria.
VADM Noonan announced the names while speaking by video conference link at the keel-laying ceremony of the HMAS Eyre this morning at ASC’s shipyard at the Osborne Naval Shipyard in South Australia.
The ceremony was officiated by Commodore Steve Tiffen, Director General, Naval Construction Branch on behalf of the Chief of Navy in the absence of official guests due to
COVID-19 restrictions.
Jens Nielsen, chief executive of Luerssen Australia and project director for SEA1180 expressed his gratitude ASC’s workforce for helping achieve this significant milestone.
“The laying of the keel for the second offshore patrol vessel marks another program milestone and is testament to the collaborative, proactive nature of the construction parties. While we celebrate this milestone, we also celebrate progress on the first vessel as both ship halves have now moved to the common user facility for consolidation into one hull,” Mr Nielsen said.
ASC General Manager Shipbuilding, Schemko Bialek, said today’s celebrating today’s traditional milestone and the Arafura Class shipbuilding program is a strong example of successful collaboration in naval shipbuilding.
“As we celebrate the Keel Laying of the second vessel, I am proud of the continued progress on the program and the hard work and collaboration of the participants and I’d like to acknowledge the experienced workforce of ASC Shipbuilding, who are carrying out the shipbuilding work on the program, under contract to ASC.”
The first two OPVs, which are based on Luerssen’s OPV 80 design, are being constructed at the Osborne Naval Shipyard in South Australia by ASC, using Australian steel cut in Western Australia by Civmec.
The remaining ten vessels will be constructed at Civmec’s facility in Henderson, with construction of the HMAS Pilbara, the first OPV to be built in WA and the third in class overall, having recently started. HMAS Eyre is expected to enter operational service in 2023.
