Australia’s first Arufara-class offshore patrol vessel begins sea trials

 

The NUSHIP Arufara (203) spotted during its sea trials. Photo c/o Trevor Powell through Naval News.

The first ship of the Arufara-class offshore patrol vessels being built for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) began its Builder’s Sea Trials (BST) phase, after almost 2 years of delay due to design issues related to its structural fire protection.

The NUSHIP Arufara (203) was spotted at sea by local ship spotters, and was confirmed to have started the sea trials on 26 August 2024 off the coast of Adelaide in South Australia, before returning on 27 August 2024. It again left port on 29 August for another round of trials, according to a report by the Australian Defence Magazine.

The NUSHIP Arufara was launched on 16 December 2021 by its builder Osborne Naval Shipyard in South Australia. It was based on a design by German shipbuilder Lurssen based on the Darussalam-class patrol vessels built for the Royal Brunei Navy.

The Australian Ministry of Defence has maintained that NUSHIP Arufara will be commissioned with the Royal Australian Navy within 2024, as the decommissioning of its predecessor, the Armidale-class large patrol boats, proceeded despite the unavailability of the Arufara-class to replace them.

Analysts are doubtful though on the ability to meet Initial Operational Capability (IOC) status, as it was reported by the Australian National Audit Office that it will take at least 37 weeks before IOC status can be achieved. 

There has been no posted updates for the other ships of the class, including the second ship NUSHIP Eyre (204) which was originally scheduled to undergo its Builder’s Sea Trials by 2023.

[1] Australian Defence Magazine

[2] Naval News