Todjaeger
Potstirrer
From what I was able to find searching, it seems as though much of the present requests for SEA 1905 are currently looking at the various mission control systems, remote and autonomous undersea vehicles and not so much about what the 'mothership' will be. I did fine something from ADBR that the former Def Min had stated in Jan 2021 that the Arafura-class OPV hull would serve as the basis for the hull of the MCM vessel but I did not find a Defence or AusGov press release or other announcement to the same effect. However, even if a former official made such an announcement whilst in office, that is not the same as a contract signing. As we have already seen, even contracts can get cancelled but there are costs and often penalties for doing so. An announcement, even by gov't, is just not quite as significant.The Arafuras would (or maybe, will) require require considerable modification to carry out the MCM or Hydro functions. That would be particularly true if they were planned to be used for offshore hydro.
I also find the notion 'interesting' since I would have expected Australia to have to do some sort of tender process as opposed to sole-sourcing an already selected design for modification. Particularly when the base design is not really one that comes to mind as immediately suitable for MCM ops.