Austal is an Australian-based global ship building company and defence prime contractor that specialises in the design, construction and support of defence and commercial vessels. Austal's product range includes naval vessels, high-speed passenger and vehicle

ferries A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water tax ...

, and specialist utility vessels, such as

offshore windfarm Offshore wind power or offshore wind energy is the generation of electricity through wind farms in bodies of water, usually at sea. There are higher wind speeds offshore than on land, so offshore farms generate more electricity per amount of c ...

for turtles and crew transfer vessels. Austal has three major ship building facilities. Defence vessels are designed and constructed in

Henderson Henderson may refer to: People *Henderson (surname), description of the surname, and a list of people with the surname *Clan Henderson, a Scottish clan Places Argentina *Henderson, Buenos Aires Australia *Henderson, Western Australia Canada * H ...

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

and

Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population within the city limits was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from 195,111 at the 2010 United States census, 2010 cens ...

. Commercial vessels are constructed in Balamban, Philippines. Vessel support is provided through service centres located in Darwin,

Cairns Cairns (, ) is a city in Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. The population in June 2019 was 153,952, having grown on average 1.02% annually over the preceding five years. The city is the 5th-most-p ...

and Henderson in Australia;

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

; Balamban, Philippines and

Muscat, Oman Muscat ( ar, مَسْقَط, ) is the Capital (political), capital and most populated city in Oman. It is the seat of the Muscat (governorate), Governorate of Muscat. According to the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), the t ...

. Corporate headquarters are co-located at Austal's Australian ship building facility in Henderson. Austal has designed and constructed over 260 vessels for numerous defence forces and commercial fleet operators. Customers include the

Australian Border Force The Australian Border Force (ABF) is a federal law enforcement agency, part of the Department of Home Affairs, responsible for offshore and onshore border control enforcement, investigations, compliance and detention operations in Australia. Thr ...

Condor Ferries Condor Ferries is an operator of passenger and freight ferry services between The United Kingdom, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Bailiwick of Jersey and France. Corporate history Condor Ferries established the first high-speed car ferry service to ...

, Mols Linien of Denmark,

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal naval force of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AM, RAN. CN is also jointly responsible to the Minister of ...

Royal Navy of Oman The Royal Navy of Oman ( ar, البحرية السلطانية العمانية), abbreviated RNO, is the maritime component of the Royal Armed Forces of the Sultanate of Oman. Given its long coastline and strategic location along the Indian Oc ...

, and

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

Products

Littoral Combat Ship (LCS)

In October 2005, Austal /

General Dynamics General Dynamics Corporation (GD) is an American publicly traded, aerospace and defense corporation headquartered in Reston, Virginia. As of 2020, it was the fifth-largest defense contractor in the world by arms sales, and 5th largest in the Uni ...

was awarded a contract to build the first unit from its design for a

Littoral Combat Ship The littoral combat ship (LCS) is either of two classes of relatively small surface vessels designed for operations near shore by the United States Navy. It was "envisioned to be a networked, agile, stealthy surface combatant capable of defeat ...

. The keel of was laid down on 19 January 2006 at

Austal USA Austal USA is an American shipbuilder based on Blakeley Island in Mobile, Alabama. It is a subsidiary of the Australian shipbuilder Austal, operating under a Special Security Arrangement which allows it to work independently and separately on so ...

's Mobile, Alabama shipyard, with the naming ceremony held on 4 October 2008. It is now operating with the fleet at its current location in Norfolk, Virginia. LCS-2 was the first ship built by Austal USA for the

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

and the Navy's first

trimaran A trimaran (or double-outrigger) is a multihull boat that comprises a main hull and two smaller outrigger hulls (or "floats") which are attached to the main hull with lateral beams. Most modern trimarans are sailing yachts designed for recreati ...

Littoral Combat Ship. It is the first naval warship constructed in Mobile, Alabama since

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The basis of Austal's seaframe design was the trimaran hull . The second Austal/General Dynamics ship, LCS-4, was cancelled on 1 November 2007. On 1 May 2009, the US Navy renewed the contract with Austal/General Dynamics to build the second LCS, , with delivery scheduled for May 2012. HSWHighSpeed5

On 29 December 2010 the US Navy announced a new contract with Austal USA after Austal severed ties with

General Dynamics Bath Iron Works Bath Iron Works (BIW) is a major United States shipyard located on the Kennebec River in Bath, Maine, founded in 1884 as Bath Iron Works, Limited. Since 1995, Bath Iron Works has been a subsidiary of General Dynamics. It is the fifth-largest ...

. New contracts for Littoral Combat Ships were awarded to both Austal USA and

Lockheed Martin The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American aerospace, arms, defense, information security, and technology corporation with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta in March 1995. It ...

. The contract called for one ship to be built beginning in 2010 (), one to be built in 2011 (), and two per year from 2012 to 2015. The LCS-6 contract was for

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

432 million, with a goal of having the average ship cost US$352 million each. Another US$20 million was figured in for change orders, and a management reserve.

Expeditionary Fast Transport (EPF)

In November 2008, Austal was awarded a contract to design and build the US military's next-generation, high-speed

catamaran A Formula 16 beachable catamaran Powered catamaran passenger ferry at Salem, Massachusetts, United States A catamaran () (informally, a "cat") is a multi-hulled watercraft featuring two parallel hulls of equal size. It is a geometry-stab ...

, the ''Spearhead''-class Expeditionary Fast Transport (EPF), which was formerly called the Joint High Speed Vessel (JHSV). The contract was part of a larger programme potentially worth over US$1.6 billion. As the prime contractor, Austal was to design and construct the first EPF, with options for nine additional vessels expected to be exercised between 2009 and 2013. Construction on the second ship started in September 2010. By the end of 2010, Austal had contracts for three ships, long-lead material contracts for two ships and options for five further ships, for a total of ten. The EPF is similar to the Austal-built , which the

US Marines The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

had used since 2002. The EPF can carry , at an average speed of and is able to unload at roll-on/roll-off discharge facilities. The vessels are long, have a beam with a crew of 22 to 40. The first four vessels were named , , and . While the EPF can carry 300 Marines and their gear for up to four days, it is not expected to be survivable against enemy attack. In 2011, US Navy planners envisioned building up to two dozen of the EPF ships into the 2020s.

Cape-class patrol boats

Austal was awarded the contract for the design, construction and through-life support of the s for the

Australian Customs and Border Protection Service The Australian Customs and Border Protection Service was an Australian federal government agency responsible for managing the security and integrity of the Australian border and facilitating the movement of legitimate international travelers and g ...

in August 2011. The eight, aluminium monohulls were delivered between March 2013 and August 2015. Austal announced it has entered into a shipbuilding contract with the

National Australia Bank National Australia Bank (abbreviated NAB, branded nab) is one of the four largest financial institutions in Australia (colloquially referred to as "The Big Four") in terms of market capitalisation, earnings and customers. NAB was ranked 21st-la ...

to construct two further Cape-class patrol boats on 13 December 2015. The contract value is A$63 million. The two vessels will be delivered to the National Australia Bank in mid-2017 and subsequently chartered to the

Commonwealth of Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

for a minimum term of three years. Austal did a similar off-balance-sheet charter with ''Westpac Express,'' which was chartered to the US Navy for 13 years. In July 2018, the government of

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

announced the acquisition of two Cape class patrol boats. The vessels will enhance the border protection capabilities of the country in conjunction with the existing Coast Guard fleet, and will join six Austal Fast Patrol Craft acquired in 2009. In May 2020, a further six were ordered for the Royal Australian Navy.

''Armidale''-class patrol boats

Between June 2005 and February 2008, Austal delivered fourteen, ''Armidale''-class patrol boats to the

for coastal defence. The boats were featured on the TV series ''

Sea Patrol ''Sea Patrol'' is an Australian television drama that ran from 2007 to 2011, set on board HMAS ''Hammersley'', a fictional patrol boat of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). The series focused on the ship and the lives of its crew members. Despi ...

''.

''P21''-class patrol boats

In 2009, the

Maritime Squadron of the Armed Forces of Malta The Maritime Squadron of the Armed Forces of Malta ( mt, Skwadra Marittima tal-Forzi Armati ta' Malta) is the naval component of the Maltese military. The Maritime Squadron has responsibility for the security of Maltese territorial waters, ma ...

ordered four patrol boats from Austal. They were due to replace the ''Swift''-class patrol boats ''P23'' and ''P24'' which had been in commission since 1971 and the ''Bremse''-class patrol boat ''P32'' which had been in commission since 1992. The new vessels were built to Maltese specifications and were partly financed by the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

. The first two vessels were launched in October 2009. All four vessels were delivered to

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

in late 2009, and officially commissioned on 18 March 2010.

Yemeni Navy patrol boats

In 2005, Austal delivered ten high-speed patrol boats to the

Yemeni Navy The Yemeni Navy and Coastal Defence Forces is the maritime component of the armed forces of Yemen. Yemen's navy was created in 1990 when North and South Yemen united. Yemen early on had problems with trying to keep drugs from entering Yemen by ...

, which are commercially hired out to protect private shippers.

Omani Navy High Speed Support Vessels (HSSV)

In early 2014, Austal announced it had been awarded a US$124.9 million contract for two High Speed Support Vessels (HSSV) for the

. Both were delivered to the Omani Navy by late 2016. The HSSV has a catamaran hull design similar to the US Navy's Expeditionary Fast Transport (EPF).

Commercial and leisure vessels

Austal is one of only two companies building fast multi-hull ferries between long. In the early 1990s, the ferry industry was transformed with the introduction of large, high-speed catamarans with decks for vehicles. They quickly replaced most hydrofoil and hovercraft services as well as many monohull ferries. The popularity of the new type of multi-hull design led to many shipyards worldwide changing their production to build fast aluminium catamarans. Eventually capacity exceeded demand and by the end of the 20th century most builders of large fast cats had ceased production. However Austal and its only competitor in this category,

Hobart Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...

-based

Incat Incat Tasmania is an Australian manufacturer of high-speed craft (HSC) catamaran ferries. Its greatest success has been with large, sea going passenger and vehicle ferries, but it has also built military transports and since 2015 it has built s ...

survived the late 1990s industry collapse and the two companies continue to compete for orders of large multi-hull ferries of up to 11,000

gross tons Gross tonnage (GT, G.T. or gt) is a nonlinear measure of a ship's overall internal volume. Gross tonnage is different from gross register tonnage. Neither gross tonnage nor gross register tonnage should be confused with measures of mass or weig ...

with capacities of over 1,200 passengers and 400 vehicles. On 20 August 2014, Austal announced the sale of Austal Hull 270, the company's trimaran stock vessel, to the UK Channel Islands' ferry operator,

, for A$61.5 million, and was renamed . Additionally, modifications to the stock vessel were valued at approximately A$6 million, and was scheduled to enter service in Spring 2015. On 28 March 2015, the ship struck the quayside while attempting to dock in

Guernsey Guernsey (; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; french: Guernesey) is an island in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy that is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependency. It is the second largest of the Channel Islands ...

on its second day in service. The damage was only minor and above the waterline. Since then, ''Condor Liberation'' has had a difficult period of operation with Condor Ferries, encountering numerous technical problems, weather cancellations and sustaining further damage to its hull whilst docked in

Poole Poole () is a large coastal town and seaport in Dorset, on the south coast of England. The town is east of Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east. Since 1 April 2019, the local authority is Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Counc ...

on 30 December 2015.

References

External links

{{Commons category, Austal
Austal official website
Shipbuilding companies of Australia Defence companies of Australia Companies established in 1988 Manufacturing companies based in Perth, Western Australia Companies listed on the Australian Securities Exchange Australian brands