Austal wins $44m ferry contract

Henderson-based shipbuilder Austal has landed its first commercial deal in Taiwan after being hired to build two vessels, with the contract valued at $44 million.

Austal will construct two 500-passenger, 50-metre catamarans for Taiwan’s Brave Line, with the contract providing an option for a third vessel of the same design.

The vessels will be designed by Austal and built at the company’s shipyard in the Philippines.

“About 80 per cent of the ships we build are for export with the design work centred at our Henderson facility,” chief executive David Singleton said.

“Austal has previously indicated continuing strength in the worldwide ferry industry and this adds to our recent record run of sales achieved over the last 18 months.

“We have a solid construction pipeline and many further export opportunities, some of which are well advanced, for our commercial vessel business.”

Shares in Austal were 0.4 per cent lower to $1.66 each at 10:45am.