Austal seeks commercial ferry orders as PH Navy cancels purchase of patrol boats

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Front view of the scale model of Austal's offshore patrol vessel, a bigger version of their Cape Class Patrol Boat that they offered to the Philippine Navy. Photo taken during the 2018 Asian Defence and Security Trade Show at the World Trade Center in Pasay, Metro Manila.
  • Austal shifts focus to securing commercial ferries to keep Philippine shipyard busy
  • This, after the Philippine Navy dropped plans to buy offshore patrol vessels from the Australian builder
  • The Navy has decided to sole-source foreign-built OPVs rather than pursue talks facilitated by the Philippine and Australian governments

Australian shipbuilder Austal Limited will focus on securing orders for commercial ferries for its Philippine shipyard following the Philippine Navy’s (PN) decision to stop the purchase of offshore patrol vessels (OPV).

In a statement, Austal said it has been advised by the Philippine Navy of its decision to sole-source foreign-built OPVs rather than proceed with buying Austal-built vessels.

The Philippines and Australia had facilitated talks for the purchase early on through a government-to-government memorandum of understanding.

“It’s disappointing that after several years of working together with PN to develop an agreed specification and price for this project, at the final stages of negotiations PN elected to pursue an offshore build on different terms,” Austal chief executive officer Paddy Gregg said.

“However, we remain very enthusiastic about the capabilities of our Cape platform for OPVs and look forward to discussing it with other potential buyers in the future,” Gregg added.

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana in August 2018 said the Philippine Navy would acquire six OPVs from Austal. In 2019, the Navy said it was in talks with the Australian government for the acquisition of the OPVs as part of the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ modernization program.

Austal proposed in 2018 its design for the OPVs, which it planned to build in its shipyard in Balamban, Cebu. The OPVs were expected to replace World War II-vintage ships retired earlier by the Navy.

Last year, the Navy said the budget department had approved a P30-billion budget for the acquisition. Lorenzana was also quoted in 2021 as saying Austal remained at the forefront of the ongoing OPV procurement plan for the Navy.

Austal is a global shipbuilder and defense prime contractor with capabilities in the development of both defense and commercial vessel platforms.

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