VIDEO: Two halves of patrol boat put together

IN WHAT has been described as “a further milestone” for the Offshore Patrol Vessel program, the two halves of the first of class ship, Arafura, built by Luerssen Australia and its partner ASC have been brought together and welded to form a finished hull. 

According to the Department of Defence, in what was the largest “block move” in the history of the Osborne Naval Shipyard and a considerable engineering feat, Australian Naval Infrastructure’s operations team manoeuvred the two “mega-blocks” together, with just a tiny space between them.