Spanish shipbuilder Navantia is positioning its Avante range of ships for the Royal Australian Navy's (RAN's) Australia's SEA 1180 Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) programme.
Project SEA 1180 seeks to replace 26 existing RAN vessels, including 14 Armidale-class patrol craft, in a contract that is valued at AUD1.5 billion (USD1.08 billion).
Speaking to IHS Jane's at the Pacific 2015 international maritime exhibition and conference in Sydney, Nick Kitching, a naval architect with Navantia Australia, identified possible contenders that could meet Australian requirements under the programme as the Avante 1400 and the Avante 3000.
"The Avante family was originally developed to replace a wide range of vessels that were approaching the end of their life in the Spanish Navy," said Kitching earlier in a corporate presentation on Navantia's offerings at the exhibition. Variants of the Avante series are currently in service with the Spanish and Venezuelan navies.
According to specifications provided by the company, the Avante 1400 design has an overall length of 79.9 m, a maximum beam of 11.8 m and a draught of 3.7 m. The platform displaces approximately 1,500 tonnes at full load and can take a complement of 35 with additional space for 29. The ship has a maximum speed in excess of 22 kt and a range of 4,000 n miles at the cruising speed of 16 kt. The Avante 1400 is currently in service with the Venezuelan Navy's Coast Guard Command as the Guaicamacuto-class patrol ship.
Meanwhile the Avante 3000 has an overall length of 93.9 m, a maximum beam of 14.2 m and a full load draught of 4.5 m. The design displaces approximately 2,840 tonnes at full load and can accommodate a crew of 35 with additional space for the same number.
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