Construction on a new Arafura-class offshore patrol vessel (OPV) slated for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) has begun at the Henderson, Western Australia facilities of Civmec.
The yet unnamed vessel will be the third Arafura-class OPV overall and the first in the class to be built in Western Australia. The first two vessels are already being constructed by ASC and Luerssen Australia at Osborne Naval Shipyard in Adelaide.
A total of 12 Arafura-class vessels have been ordered for the RAN to replace the service's aging Armidale-class patrol boats.
