MARCH 21, 2013 — Henderson, Western Australia, headquartered shipbuilder Strategic Marine has won an order to build a 40 m patrol vessel to be be deployed by Australian Customs & Border Protection to Ashmore Island, an external territory of Australia lying 500 nautical miles from Darwin in the Indian Ocean.

Strategic Marine has operations in Singapore, Australia and Vietnam and the patrol vessel will be built in its Vietnam shipyard

Called the "Long Term Ashmore Capability" (LTAC) it will be built by Gardline Australia Pty Ltd on behalf of the Government of Australia andd will be a 40-metre On Station Vessel designed for reliable, flexible self-sufficiency on longterm deployment in tropical areas.

The order was awarded after a successful tender prepared under a teaming arrangement between Gardline Australia Pty Ltd (the owner and operator of the the vessel currently operating in the same location, the Ashmore Guardian), Strategic Marine, the builder of the new vessel, and McAlpine Marine design Pty Ltd, the designer.

The vessel’s steel hull and aluminum superstructure design stems from Gardline’s previous experience with the present Ashmore Guardian, twhich the LTAC is intended to relieve and replace in mid-2014.

Among the LTAC’s technical specifications are twin main Caterpillar 32 engines and a bowthruster, twin davits and tenders, a draft of 2.4 m and breadth of 11.5 m. There will be accommodations for 17 crew and 26 passengers.

Ron Anderson, Strategic Marine’s Executive Director, said: “We are delighted our long experience in the construction of transport and patrol boats for many governments gave Gardline the confidence to select us to build for them under their contact with the Australian authorities.”

Separately, this week Strategic Marine delivered the Njord Lapwing, the fourth in a series of eight vessels ordered by Njord Offshore (UK), underscoring Strategic’s global capability to supply service ships for the offshore windfarm sector. The Lapwing follows February’s delivery of the Njord Curlew and will be succeeded by next month’s delivery of the Njord Petrel.ar, Strategic will commence building crew and windfarm sector vessels for stock request, shortening delivery periods to meet increased market demand.