Austal Limited (Austal) has delivered the second of eight Cape Class Patrol Boats being supplied to the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service under a $330 million design, build and in-service support contract.
Cape Byron was delivered four weeks ahead of its original delivery date.
Austal Chief Executive Officer Andrew Bellamy said it was very pleasing that Austal was able to advance delivery of the vessel following a request from the customer.
“Our team at the Henderson shipyard worked hard and intelligently to meet Customs’ request to advance delivery of Cape Byron to increase the capability of the border protection fleet,” Mr Bellamy said.
“Our ability to deliver Cape Byron early and continue to improve efficiencies across the program exemplifies Austal’s core value of being a competitive shipbuilder capable of winning domestic and export opportunities, which we believe is the only sustainable model for the long-term future of naval shipbuilding in Australia and the capability it delivers.”
With the completion of Cape Byron, Austal has delivered 73 defence vessels including 42 patrol boats for Australian agencies. The remaining six Cape Class vessels are at various stages of construction and will be delivered progressively through to August 2015, in line with the contract.
[mappress] Press Release, May 20, 2014, Image: Austal