Australian shipbuilder Austal and German designer Fassmer hosted over 120 Victorian defence and manufacturing companies for an industry engagement forum in Melbourne.
The forum was held to allow the companies to learn about the Austal Fassmer joint venture bid for Australia’s $3 billion Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) program.
Austal’s vice president defence, Davyd Thomas AO CSC, along with Gary Hogan, acting manager of the Victorian defence sector development team spoke on the opportunities for suppliers to join the project.
“AustalFassmer is the only one of three bidders 100 per cent committed to completing the detailed design work for the OPV’s in Australia,” Thomas said.
“Austal is proud to be Australia’s largest defence exporter and together with Fassmer we are committed to seeing Australian industry benefit as much as possible from the OPV program,” he said.
The OPV program will see 12 vessels built for the Royal Australian Navy, with the first two ships to be constructed in Adelaide, with the remaining ten in Western Australia.