South Australia’s world-class Osborne Naval Shipyard was home to the construction of two Arafura Class Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs).
The OPVs have been an important step in Australia’s continuous naval shipbuilding strategy, with construction of the first two OPVs taking place in South Australia, before the remaining 4 are built in Western Australia to align with the commencement of the Hunter class frigate program at Osborne Naval Shipyard. The Arafura class OPVs are intended to replace the Armidale class patrol boats and have been designed to perform maritime patrol and response duties for the Australian Defence Force.
Following a competitive evaluation process, the Australian Government selected the subsidiary of German company Lurssen, Luerssen Australia, as the successful designer of the OPVs. They have sub-contracted Adelaide-based company ASC to provide support for the hull construction of the first two OPVs and Perth-based company Civmec will construct the remaining 4 new vessels. Adelaide-based Saab Australia secured the contract for the combat management system on all 6 OPVs, creating hundreds of high-tech defence jobs.
The first ship – NUSHIP Arafura – was launched in December 2021 and the second ship – NUSHIP EYRE – was launched in November 2023, signifying the end of OPV construction in South Australia.
