Finland’s Boomeranger Boats to Supply RHIBs for Australian Arafura Class OPVs.

The Commonwealth of Australia has signed a contract with Finland’s Boomeranger Boats on October 9 to supply Rigid-hulled inflatable boats (RHIBs) for Royal Australian Navy’s new Arafura Class Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs).

Boomeranger Fast Rescue Boat MODEL 850 (Picture source: Boomeranger Boats)

Under the contract, Boomeranger will deliver two davit-launched 8.5-meter Fast Rescue Boats and one 10.5-meter ramp-launched Special Operations Boat for each of the SEA1180 OPVs. Both boats are RHIBs with inboard engines. In total, the contract comprises 41 RHIBs to be delivered over a period of 10 years.

Boomeranger Fast Rescue Boats are used in variable applications onboard multipurpose off-shore vessels, ice-breakers, oil spill response vessels, off- and in-shore patrol vessels, minesweepers and hunters, logistic support vessels, corvettes and frigates.

The Boomeranger Special Operations Boats are widely in use by Navies, Marines, Special Forces and other professional users around the world. Since widely deployed, Boomerangers are often spotted in action in international military and peacekeeping operations.

The first batch of sea boats will be delivered in 2021 to support the acceptance of the first OPV, the future HMAS Arafura. The keel of the vessel was laid on May 10 at the Osborne Naval Shipyard in Adelaide.

Both of the sea boat models are existing designs from earlier projects delivered by Boomeranger. The 10.5-meter sea boat is an enhanced variant of the ramp-launched RHIB delivered to the Royal Brunei Navy’s Darussalam-class offshore patrol vessel. Darussalam-class OPVs are based on the OPV 80 design by the German shipyard Lürssen (Luerssen), which also forms the basis for the Arafura class OPVs.