AULONG JOINT VENTURE SECURES CONTRACTS FOR FOUR NEW HIGH SPEED FERRIES IN CHINA

COMPANY ANNOUNCEMENT

22 JANUARY 2018

AULONG JOINT VENTURE SECURES CONTRACTS FOR FOUR NEW HIGH SPEED FERRIES IN CHINA

Austal Limited (ASX:ASB) is pleased to announce Aulong Shipbuilding, a joint venture company between Austal and Guandong Jianglong Shipbuilding of China, has secured contracts for four new high speed ferries.

Aulong has been awarded contracts totaling A$20 million to design and build four 42 metre high speed catamarans for Xidao Dazhou Tourism Co Ltd.

Announcing the contracts in Australia, Austal Chief Executive Officer David Singleton said the Aulong joint venture has successfully rejuvenated Austal’s sales in mainland China - with 6 new high speed ferries ordered in just 18 months.

“This A$20 million order is a great start to 2018, following our record sales in 2017 when we added eight commercial vessel orders worldwide, worth over A$380 million,” Mr Singleton said.

“Our strategic objective in China is to establish our joint venture, Aulong, as a highly credible brand leader in the very large, mainland Chinese market. While the current vessels under construction and on order are relatively small by Austal standards, our work to date has been of the highest quality and we expect over the next few years that larger, more complex vessels will be required in this market.

“Our growing ship building presence in China will also allow Austal to progressively identify and manage quality Chinese suppliers that can enter our global supply chain and so create additional benefits to the Company,” he added.

With the benefit of Austal’s extensive portfolio of high speed aluminium ferries, Aulong is attracting new and existing customers and anticipates additional orders from mainland China in the following months.

The 42 metre aluminium ferries will carry up to 399 passengers each, at speeds in excess of 20 knots and will operate from Xideo, a tourist island off Sanya City, in the Hainan Province.

Construction will commence from Aulong’s Zhongshan shipyard in Guandong Province in March 2018, with delivery scheduled for early 2019.

Four 42 metre ferries will be constructed by Aulong for Xidao Dazhou Tourism Co Ltd of China from March 2018 (Image: Aulong)

About Aulong

Aulong Shipbuilding Co. Ltd (Aulong) is a joint venture between Guangdong Jianglong Shipbuilding Company (Jianglong Shipbuilding) of Zhuhai, China and Austal Limited, established in June 2016 with the aim of pursuing commercial passenger and non-military vessel opportunities in mainland China.

Austal (with 40% ownership) has licensed a number of its proven, commercial aluminium vessel designs for marketing throughout mainland China and construction at Jianglong Shipbuilding’s established facilities in Guangdong province. Jianglong Shipbuilding (with 60% ownership) brings local shipbuilding infrastructure, experience and expertise, with close to 1,000 employees across two shipyards supporting the joint venture.

-ENDS-

MEDIA CONTACT

Contact:        Gemma Whiting, Government Relations Manager

Phone:           +61 408 982 726

Email:            gemma.whiting@austal.com