Shipbuilder Austal Australia has launched the fifth evolved Cape-class patrol boat (ECCPB) for the Royal Australian Navy.
The future ADV Cape Woolamai, named after the headland at the south-eastern tip of Phillip Island in Victoria, was launched at the Henderson, Western Australia shipyard. The launching happened after approximately 12 months of construction and only four months after the launch of the last ECCPB, in September 2022.
In May 2020, Austal Australia was awarded a contract to design and construct six ‘Evolved’ Cape-class Patrol Boats for the Royal Australian Navy. Less than 2 years later, the company has delivered the first of the Evolved Capes, the ADV Cape Otway (314), and continues to construct the remaining five vessels due for delivery over 2022 and 2023.
In April 2022 Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced that a further two evolved Cape-class patrol boats would be ordered by the Australian Department of Defence in FY2023, bringing the total number of vessels ordered for the Royal Australian Navy to eight.