Work on Australia’s First of 12 OPVs to Commence in Last Quarter of 2018

The first of Australia’s 12 Offshore Patrol Vessels that will be built in Australia will commence production in the fourth quarter of 2018. 

The Malcolm Turnbull Government announced that the Australia’s AUD4 billion OPV project will be designed and built under prime contractor Germany's Lurssen Werft shipyard. The project will be delivered by Australian workers, in Australian shipyards using Australian steel, Australian Department of Defence said in a statement Friday.

As detailed in the 2016 Defence White Paper, the Government is undergoing its largest regeneration of naval capability since the Second World War. 

The announcement is the next stage in Australia’s National Shipbuilding Plan and will directly employ up to 1000 Australian workers - 400 direct and a further 600 in the supply chain. 

The Navy’s OPVs will be the Lürssen design utilising ASC Shipbuilding in Adelaide for the construction of the first two ships. 

The project will then transfer to the Henderson Maritime Precinct in WA where Lürssen will use the capabilities of Austal and Civmec to build ten OPVs, subject to the conclusion of commercial negotiations.