Austal has been awarded a A$15.5M (US$10.7M) contract for a 41-m high-speed catamaran
The vessel will provide production continuity to Austal Vietnam as it completes a 94-m ferry for a customer in Trinidad and Tobago. Austal said in a statement that the contract will become effective when the down payment is received, which is expected in the next few days.
The new vessel is based on an existing Austal Australia design, with customer-defined modifications to be undertaken in Vietnam before construction commences there by March 2020, with delivery approximately one year later.
Austal chief executive David Singleton said demand for vessels in this size category indicates the potential for follow-on vessels.
“We are very excited to be building this new ship for SGTM, our first destined for the Comoros Islands, and especially pleased that our proven vessel design continues to evolve to meet the needs of operators worldwide,” Mr Singleton said.
“In the highly competitive 40–50-m high-speed catamaran market, Austal has led the global marketplace, with 80 vessels now built by the company since the early 1990s.”
When awarding the contract, SGTM director Michel Labourdere said “Based on the outstanding performance of Ntringui Express (Austal Hull 58), which was originally delivered to Japan in 1997 and bought by us in 2013, we knew we had to talk to Austal about our first newbuild.”
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