The odds of a shake-up of the composition of Australia’s Navy surface fleet have again shortened after the $3.6 billion Arafura-class offshore patrol vessel (OPV) was listed as a “Defence Project of Concern” on the infamous military catalogue of troubled builds and projects.
Also known as Project SEA 1180 Phase 1, the 1600-tonne, 80-metre-long patrol boats being built in South Australia and Western Australia are replacing the Armidale Class and Cape Class patrol boats with a single design but have been criticised for being big on size but light on firepower after its 40mm cannon was deleted from the build.
Another bone of contention is while the Arafuras have a helicopter landing deck they don’t have a hangar, so can’t stow (embark) a chopper on board for operations while at sea.
“The project has experienced delays in delivery of both the vessels and the associated support system with schedule delays first emerging in 2021,” Defence said in a statement issued on Friday afternoon.
“The OPVs are under construction at Osborne Naval Shipyard in South Australia and the Henderson Maritime Precinct in Western Australia.”
Defence says the “primary role of the OPV will be to undertake constabulary missions”, adding that the boats will also “perform maritime patrol and response duties for the Australian Defence Force”.
Those roles previously have been intercepting unauthorised boat arrivals of asylum seekers that increasingly consumed Navy resources as the tempo of foreign naval operations increased.
With another review of the current surface fleet underway as a result of the Defence Strategic Review, one option doing the rounds on the strategic analyst and think tank circuit is that the under-gunned boats could be shifted to Border Force to perform patrol and interdiction duties.
Alternatively, they could be beefed up with more firepower.
The build of the OPVs has been contracted to Luerssen Australia, an arm of northern German boatbuilder Luerssen that specialises in smaller naval and coast guard patrol boats and giant bespoke superyachts favoured by Russian oligarchs and assorted other obscenely wealthy types.
“Defence and Luerssen Australia will work together to develop a remediation plan to help address delays to the OPV schedule,” Defence said.
“Defence and Luerssen Australia remain committed to providing the Royal Australian Navy with this capability.”
Ironically, the listing as a Project of Concern came as Luerssen Australia revealed it had struck a deal with Indigenous-owned Tammar Contractors.
According to Luerssen Australia’s media release, Tammar Contractors is headed up “by Larry Kickett, a former WA footballer, and Simon Brennan, managing director of BRE Engineering”.
“We are extremely proud to be engaging more and more local suppliers on the OPV Program, and we are happy to be working with Tammar Contractors, a registered First Nations supplier,” said Luerssen Australia chief executive officer Jens Nielsen.
“Luerssen Australia is an Australian company, employing Australian workers, in Australian shipyards, using Australian steel to build Royal Australian Navy vessels.”
