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| A Cape class Patrol Boat (File Photo) |
Austal Limited (Austal) (ASX:ASB) is pleased to announce it has delivered Cape Wessel the seventh of eight Cape Class Patrol Boats being supplied to Australian Border Force under a $330 million design, build and in-service support contract.
Cape Wessel is named after the most northerly point of Rimbija Island, the northernmost island of the Wessel Islands group that extends from Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory, Australia and into the Arafura Sea.
Austal Chief Executive Officer Andrew Bellamy said that with one remaining vessel to be delivered out of the Cape Class fleet, Austal continued to demonstrate its credentials as a partner of choice for government defence vessel programs and a world leader in patrol boat design, build and sustainment.
“The on-time delivery of Cape Wessel and continued efficiencies across the program reinforce Austal’s capability to reliably build and sustain naval and border protection vessels,” Mr Bellamy said.
“Our team at the Henderson shipyard have again demonstrated their ability to meet contracted timeframes. We have been delivering a Cape Class Patrol vessel approximately every 10 weeks, which is significantly increasing Australian Border Force’s capability to reliably deliver on the Border Protection obligations it undertakes to the Commonwealth of Australia."
“Our Sustainment team continues to grow in line with vessels coming into service to ensure operational availability is achieved.”
The final Cape Class vessel is in the final stages of construction and will be delivered later in the year, in line with the contract.