Crew training has kicked off for the Arafura Class Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) Program. Over the past three years, Luerssen Australia in conjunction with the Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group and the Royal Australian Navy has analysed and designed a specific training package to prepare incoming OPV crews.
The training is a consolidation of instructor led and student self-paced learning and provides a realistic environment via 3D simulation to prepare sailors and officers to operate the OPVs. The crew are able to immerse themselves in a fully rendered 3D environment which will allow them to familiarise themselves with the individual compartments, rooms and equipment prior to boarding the vessel for the first time in real life.
The training will be delivered at the OPV Training Centre at HMAS Stirling on Garden Island and it is expected to take approximately six months for each crew. All crew posted to an OPV will undertake the familiarisation course, as well as a variety of operator and maintainer courses depending on their role. Luerssen Australia’s dedicated Training Team will deliver the courses, many of whom are Navy veterans who bring years of experience to help gear up the next generation.
Luerssen Australia Chief Executive Officer, Jens Nielsen, said this is an important milestone and is proud to be helping the first crew get ready to deploy. “The commencement of OPV crew training is another critical achievement in Luerssen Australia’s delivery of the Arafura OPV Program,” said Nielsen. “This training once again shows Luerssen Australia is committed to delivering the Navy the capability it needs as soon as possible. The first OPV, NUSHIP Arafura, was launched in December last year, and we have four other vessels under construction in South Australia and Western Australia.”
Luerssen Australia is employing Australian workers, in Australian shipyards, using Australian steel to provide the Royal Australian Navy with the Australian made vessels it needs for the future. “Luerssen Australia has a long-term strategy for building and sustaining minor warships and large vessels in Henderson, and we continue to build on our passion and history to shape the future of Australian shipbuilding,” Nielsen said.
Luerssen Australia drawing on almost 150 years of shipbuilding and sustainment knowledge to support the delivery of a sovereign naval shipbuilding capability in Australia. With the Federal Government investing billions of dollars into the Western Australian shipbuilding sector over the next decade, Luerssen Australia sees a very bright future for the industry and is committed to staying here for the long term.
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If the Arafura’s have the same constabulary role as the existing Cape Class or Evolved Cape Class, why do we need them?