Rising tide of innovation floats Tasmanian boatbuilding capability

Madeleine Ogilvie,Minister for Advanced Manufacturing and Defence Industries

The Tasmanian Liberal Government is growing Tasmania’s defence sector capability with the delivery of the 11 metre Sentinel ultra-durable, High Density Polyethylene prototype vessel.

The Liberal Government committed $600,000 at the 2021 State Election as a three year no-interest loan to the PFG Group to support the construction of this state-of-the-art vessel.

The new Sentinel vessel was built for the defence sector in Australian and international markets and will grow the presence of renowned Tasmanian tactical watercraft.

The Sentinel will be transported to Sydney later this week and will form the cornerstone of the Tasmanian Government’s defence industries display at the Indo Pacific International Maritime Exposition at Darling Harbour in Sydney.

PFG CEO Mr Rob said PFG has a global reputation for excellence which continues to put Tasmania’s advanced manufacturing skills on the map.

“The support of the Tasmanian Government for this project has been vital and now we have a vessel that not just our employees can be proud of, so can all Tasmanians.

“We are also delighted that we are able to continue the Tasmanian tradition of building innovative and latest technology boats – a heritage that actually spans almost 200 years in our State.”

Manufacturing in Tasmania has been revitalised in recent years, and the Tasmanian Liberal Government has a clear plan to boost and support the industry to be world leaders of cutting-edge advanced manufacturing.

That’s why at the previous State Election we committed an additional $10 million over four years to support advanced manufacturing and defence industries to collaborate, innovate, commercialise and scale up to create jobs and further opportunities for Tasmanian businesses.

Our Tasmanian Defence Industry Strategy was designed to increase opportunities for Tasmanian businesses in the defence sector, and contracts like this one between PFG and the New Zealand Government clearly shows our combined efforts are working.

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