Austal to Build US Navy Ships in the Philippines

[ManilaBoy]

Any updates on this plan by Austal to build US Navy warships in Cebu? The last news I heard was an announcement from the shipbuilder confirming that it has no plans whatsoever of building the vessels in the Philippines and that it will be built at a US shipyard instead...

 

[colay]

Any updates on this plan by Austal to build US Navy warships in Cebu? The last news I heard was an announcement from the shipbuilder confirming that it has no plans whatsoever of building the vessels in the Philippines and that it will be built at a US shipyard instead...

think this was a case of "kuryente".. a local politician being a little too imaginative in his press releases.

 

[ThePuss]

The Philippines Austal shipyard is being opened to take over the civilian ferry sector of the business (Away from Austal's Henderson yard).

Austal Australia will make Patrol Boats for around the world and all US naval orders will be made by Austal USA.

 

[ManilaBoy]

The Philippines Austal shipyard is being opened to take over the civilian ferry sector of the business (Away from Austal's Henderson yard).

Austal Australia will make Patrol Boats for around the world and all US naval orders will be made by Austal USA.

Any news article or links to confirm this reports, either way I beleived this is an accurate statement based on the fact that Austal has always built military patrol vessels for it's customers at home or in the US if it's for the US Navy......

 

[StevoJH]

Any news article or links to confirm this reports, either way I beleived this is an accurate statement based on the fact that Austal has always built military patrol vessels for it's customers at home or in the US if it's for the US Navy......

News articles or links to confirm "which" reports specifically?

I believe there were several articles linked earlier in this thread.

 

[ManilaBoy]

News articles or links to confirm "which" reports specifically?

I believe there were several articles linked earlier in this thread.

The news article link was specifically to confirm that the new US Navy ships will be built in Mobile, Alabama and not in Cebu as earlier reported, but no specific news links on the statement about Austal will only build civilian vessels in the Philippines...

 

[charismaverick]

From Austal's website

7 Nov 11
Austal Acquires Philippines Shipyard
'Leading global shipbuilder and defence prime contractor Austal has acquired a shipyard in the Philippines as part of its strategy to regionalise its manufacturing base for commercial vessels.'

'Austal will primarily construct small and medium sized aluminium passenger ferries, work boats and transfer vessels such as Austal’s Wind Express series of wind farm support vessels at the Philippines shipyard. The shipyard is purpose-designed and built for building aluminium vessels of that size and type and will also have the skilled workforce and facilities to be able to undertake service and maintenance work. Austal is retaining its large commercial vessel manufacturing capability in Australia.'

 

[hsvswift]

Austal could still run into problems setting up a new facility somewhere else. As I understand it, building complete vessels from marine grade aluminum is a somewhat specialized skill. Austal has a reputation for being at the top of the heap in terms of quality aluminum vessels. Incat in Hobart IIRC also uses aluminum, but does not have the same quality. By setting up a new facility elsewhere, Austal runs the risk of needing to skill-up the workforce at the new site before being able to produce vessels of the same quality as Henderson.

-Cheers

You have your facts wrong it is incat that is known for high quality alluminium vessels not austal. Incat basically pioneered the wave piercing cat and at one stage 40% of the worlds fast ferries were built at the hobart shipyard the us military had 3 incat boats on lease at one stage and used them through the gulf war and other missions. The australian military used an incat vesel during the timor conflict for humanitarian relief. The reason the us has chosen to build austal boats is basically because incat is still a family run company and austal had the smarts to open a shipyard in the us as the us has this thing they call the jones act which basically means that their ships must be built in the us, incat got around this with the boats they leased because they were sold to a us shipyard then leased to the military, as for the free trade act little johnny signed with the us well it wasnt worth the paper it was printed on, the fool was hoodwinked. As fro building us military boats in the us it is the jones act that prevents this. PS i cant understand why austal would open up a shipyard in the mainly muslim southern philipines as kidnappings etc are quite common there according to news articles.

 

[fretburner]

PS i cant understand why austal would open up a shipyard in the mainly muslim southern philipines as kidnappings etc are quite common there according to news articles.

The supposed Austal facility is in Cebu in the Visayas. While considered the "Queen City of the South", it's not the "south" that you are referring to. You are talking about the Island of Mindanao. Even then, Moslems are a minority in Mindanao. In fact, there are only 2 regions in Mindanao which are dominated by Moslems, namely Region IX and ARMM (Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao). Most of the kidnappings that you read in the news happen in this region. You won't read/know about these things in Cebu.

Any how, I would love to see Austal build ships in Cebu.

 

[Trackmaster]

You have your facts wrong it is incat that is known for high quality alluminium vessels not austal.

hsvswift. It is actually the other way around. Austal is noted for the quality of the vessels it builds, and this has been shown with the contracts it has won.

 

[Abraham Gubler]

The reason the us has chosen to build austal boats is basically because incat is still a family run company and austal had the smarts to open a shipyard in the us as the us has this thing they call the jones act which basically means that their ships must be built in the us,

INCAT’s bid for the JHSV was to be built in the US by their partners at Bollinger Marine. Arguably the INCAT consortium was better placed in terms of US politics than AUSTAL to win the JHSV because they were using an established all American shipbuilder (Bollinger) rather than a foreign owned startup (AUSTAL USA).

 

[gf0012-aust]

You have your facts wrong it is incat that is known for high quality alluminium vessels not austal. Incat basically pioneered the wave piercing cat and at one stage 40% of the worlds fast ferries were built at the hobart shipyard

having been on both vessels built by austal and INCAT I can tell you that the differencer between and INCAT and Austal build is chalk and cheese. Austal is a Mayerbach and INCAT is a Chev Lumina in comparison. The build quality difference is noticeable - even to visitors

BTW at one stage in the last 10 years Australia had 40% of the worlds fast cat ferry builds - it was not 40% by INCAT. Bob Clifford likes self promotion and exaggeration of claims - but even he's not dumb enough to make that claim

the us military had 3 incat boats on lease at one stage and used them through the gulf war and other missions. The australian military used an incat vesel during the timor conflict for humanitarian relief.

and apart from getting people there faster than other surface means with the available fleet, it provided no benefit. in fact the logistical tail caught up with any gains made by hi speed ingress. offloading stern to stern with another vessel and then having to have the 2nd vessel (proper landing ship) do the dock offload meant a loss of any time gained inbound. Its why the Austal TSV solution is a better vessel for autonomy of load. Thats why the Marines and US Army used them.

The reason the us has chosen to build austal boats is basically because incat is still a family run company and austal had the smarts to open a shipyard in the us as the us has this thing they call the jones act which basically means that their ships must be built in the us, incat got around this with the boats they leased because they were sold to a us shipyard then leased to the military, as for the free trade act little johnny signed with the us well it wasnt worth the paper it was printed on, the fool was hoodwinked.

INCAT has a US partner - they're not locked out of the US by the Jones Act at all.

As fro building us military boats in the us it is the jones act that prevents this.

No you're wrong. The Jones Act is about building licensed or original non US IP assets as US military hardware in the continental US.

PS i cant understand why austal would open up a shipyard in the mainly muslim southern philipines as kidnappings etc are quite common there according to news articles.

That would be due to the Fil Govt wanting to help use this industry to bring employment to the area - unemployment in the disaffected areas has been shown to be time and time again once of the reasons why the younger men get seduced by the ideology of fundamentalism and that they don't see any of the opportunities that they argue that the "west" keeps from them

In addtion, the sthn fil area has one of the highest active concentrations of SF anywhere in the world outside of Afghanistan. They're not unprotected by any means

 

[Trackmaster]

In addtion, the sthn fil area has one of the highest active concentrations of SF anywhere in the world outside of Afghanistan. They're not unprotected by any means

Glad to hear that GF...I head for General Santos City tomorrow

 

[the road runner]

I am just curious to know if "Incat" and "Austal" aluminium hulls have less life that a steel hull ship?

The reason i ask is that Australia's "Armidale class" hulls are now having issues with the aluminium hulls? Would this be the same with Austal and Incat designs , a lower operating life compared to steel?

 

[ASSAIL]

I am just curious to know if "Incat" and "Austal" aluminium hulls have less life that a steel hull ship?

The reason i ask is that Australia's "Armidale class" hulls are now having issues with the aluminium hulls? Would this be the same with Austal and Incat designs , a lower operating life compared to steel?

Generally yes but there a many variables to consider.
Firstly, hull thickness, the thicker the hull the greater the life. Unfortunately, if speed is a requirement, weight is critical hence lighter construction.

Secondly, alu is a "base" metal and therefore electrolysis is a huge problem if not managed and cathodic protection of the hull is paramount. This can be achieved electronically or by careful management of zinc anodes. However, strict protocols are required when managing an alu hull such as; not dropping steel objects into bilges, ensuring that no stray electrical currents are leaked into the hull, not mooring alongside steel objects for protracted periods and paying special attention to how the ship connects to shore power (this is best achieved by not having a direct connection but through induction or modulator tank.

A recent example of the differences can be seen in the USN's LCS ships. The LCS1 class are steel hulls but not very thick. The hulls have suffered quite severe cracking through hull stresses at high speed.
On the other hand. the LCS2 class experienced severe electrolysis around the jet areas aft. I suspect this is more easily managed than the former which could require extra hull stiffening hence weight.

So, in summary, for smaller vessels, hull life should be about 15 years if carefully managed. Thin steel hulls will corrode quicker, alu hulls will suffer electrolysis and possibly delaminate, ie the alu alloy will separate and become brittle.

In my world we call alu hulls "floating anodes"

 

[Abraham Gubler]

In my world we call alu hulls "floating anodes"

No surprise considering aluminium is also called “metallic electricity"...

 

[KGB]

In addtion, the sthn fil area has one of the highest active concentrations of SF anywhere in the world outside of Afghanistan. They're not unprotected by any means

Cebu's a tourist zone, and one of the most progressive areas in the country.