Australia Navy HMAS Arafura Delivered

Defence accepted the first Arafura-class offshore patrol vessel from Luerssen Australia at the Osborne Naval Shipyard in late January 2025, with handover to the Royal Australian Navy following in February. The 80-metre, 1,640-tonne design is based on the Luerssen OPV 80 and replaces the Armidale and Cape-class patrol boats. Hull blocks were fabricated by Civmec, with final assembly at Osborne in South Australia. Arafura has a range of about 4,000 nautical miles, a top speed of 20 knots and a core crew of around 40.