Australian shipbuilder Austal to discuss building high speed ferries and navy ships for Middle Eastern markets

AUSTRALIAN shipbuilder Austal will discuss how its high speed ferries and navy ships are making inroads into Middle Eastern markets with federal parliament’s Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade at a public hearing in Canberra on October 14.

The Trade sub-committee’s inquiry into trade with the Middle East will hear from Austal about the potential of Australia’s manufacturing sector to find new export opportunities in a region with a population of more than 350 million.

Austal is a global defence prime contractor, designer, and manufacturer of defence and commercial ships. For more than 25 years, Austal has been a leader in the design, construction, and maintenance of mostly high performance aluminium ships for governments, navies and ferry operators around the world.

Defence vessels designed and built by Austal include the Littoral Combat Ship for the United States Navy, and military high-speed vessels for transport and humanitarian relief, such as the Joint High Speed Vessel for the US Navy and the High Speed Support Vessel for the Royal Navy of Oman.

Austal opened its regional representative office in the United Arab Emirates in 2010, and has also been delivering maintenance and repair services to government-owned aluminium high speed vessels in the Sultanate of Oman since 2009.

Offshore industries are another growth opportunity in the Middle East as high speed vessels can move more personnel and stores out to oil and natural gas platforms than helicopters at less cost. The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company ordered two 45m high speed ferries in 2014 for this purpose.

Public hearing
Date/Time: Wednesday 14 October 2015, 11:05 am
Location: Committee Room 1R3, Parliament House, Canberra
Organisation: Austal

Live audio broadcast will be available at www.aph.gov.au/live

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