Austal’s facility in Balamban, Cebu.

Australian shipbuilder Austal is in talks with the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) for a vessel that will rival capabilities of ships of China in the West Philippine Sea.

Wayne Murray, president of Austal Philippines, said its facility in Cebu is developing one vessel concept that will use hydrogen power and is building a green vessel that will sail between France and the US.

Murray said there are  no firm contracts at the moment with the PCG but he expressed hope one would be finalized within six months.

Murray said the company is working with PCG’s technical team to establish a vessel that would be suitable for its requirements to match what the Chinese Coast Guard is doing, “or preferably be better than them.”

“It’s all about making sure the vessel is correct. We are developing the platform, understanding what range they need, how long do they need to be out there, what crew they have,” Murray said in a press briefing in Makati City on Friday.

Murray said the vessel will use a proven platform that is currently being used by the Australian Coast Guard, but would be custom-built for the requirements of the PCG.

“It means that while the hull is a known product, what’s inside the hull will be completely different.

The Australians are really focused on border protection, so that’s really about rescuing and stopping illegal immigrants. Whereas in the Philippines, while that’s a requirement, a lot of it is more about getting supplies out to your fishermen and the people on the islands that at the moment are being blocked,” Murray said.

In parallel, Austal is working on alternative fuel vessels from its Philippine facility.

Austal is working with a company in Europe looking at a hydrogen-powered vessel.

“They’ve engaged us to work with them to look at hydrogen power which is interesting because the vessel would require more hydrogen than the country can actually produce at the moment.

But you’ve got to actually look at what the future looks like. You can’t design for what your infrastructure limits now,” Murray added,

The contract is worth about $35 million to $40 million

Murray said Austal recently signed a vessel for a European operator that is going to sail between France and the US.

The wind-powered vessel, which will travel across the Atlantic delivering cargo, is a trimaran.

“It is a lot like a Filipino banca but on a big scale. It has three hulls, which means it’s much faster than a normal cargo vessel. Aside from wind power, there will be a lot of solar panels on deck, battery energy inside, and water generators below. So it really is going to be a green vessel,” he added.

“What we’re really proud about is it’s going to be built and delivered and tested here in the Philippines. So when it does start travelling, it is going to be a Philippines-built vessel that will be fully green between Europe and America.

He said this will be a test vessel with possibility of delivering or building a number of them thereafter.

The hydrogen vessel is a future concept being designed and developed by Austal’s Philippines design office.

“After COVID, there was a little bit of a slowdown because the world has been looking at what does the next fuel look like. Climate change is probably the second biggest conversation after the West Philippine Sea. Every operator in the world was trying to decide what the next fuel would be, because diesel is not the most favorite fuel right now but electricity works well on land but the storage capacity on a vessel is limited,” he said.