Incat Tasmania, the pioneer of the global high speed ship industry, proposes an innovative and cost effective solution that will, within days, significantly enhance the effectiveness of surface surveillance and interception in Northern Australia. Importantly, the proposal provides for the release of vital frontline RAN assets, such as HMAS Manoora and including several frigates, for service in other Australian and overseas territories, rather than have them held “captive” as they currently are.
Despite the sterling efforts of a number of Government Departments and civilian contractors, a variety of global forces have combined to create a situation where current surveillance and response resources are clearly inadequate for the wide variety of tasks at hand.
Proposal:
Australian Customs, which coordinates the surveillance and response needs of at least 5 Australian Government Departments, outlines on its website that:
it must constantly adapt to changing operational threats;
the significant increase in suspect illegal entrant vessels during 1999-2000 tested Coastwatch’s resources to the extreme; and
if required, it had the capacity to charter or hire additional air or sea resources.
Given the current requirement in Northern Australia and a whole of Government approach, Incat propose a high speed catamaran is immediately deployed for surveillance and interception operations.
The world took note of the Royal Australian Navy’s pioneering use of HMAS Jervis Bay during the Timor Crisis and whilst the circumstances have changed a similar need now exists. The high speed wave piercing catamaran is ideally suited for the current surveillance and interception requirements and the recently refurbished former Jervis Bay is available for immediate commissioning.
