Austal in $12m Egyptian ferry deal

Shipbuilder Austal has entered a $12 million contract to manage and maintain services for two vehicle-passenger ferries owned by the government in Egypt.

The announcement is below:

Austal confirms an unconditional contract has been signed with a value of approximately AUD $12 million for the technical management and maintenance services of two high-speed vehicle-passenger ferries owned by the Government of Egypt.

The technical management and maintenance services will be undertaken over a three-year period and includes options for an additional two years.

Work will be performed by Austal's Service Department on-site in Egypt and will utilise the region's existing maintenance docking facilities where required.

The two Austal designed and built 88-metre ferries "Cairo" and "Riyadh" were delivered to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in December 2008. The vessels were later gifted to the Egyptian Government to improve the standard of ferry services across the Red Sea.

Austal Managing Director Bob Browning commented; "Building vessel maintenance and support revenue is an important part of providing longer term, predictable earnings outside of our traditional product segments."

"This contract augments a growing portfolio of service contracts, both scheduled and ad hoc, and demonstrates the global vessel support capabilities of Austal."