Sentinel Boats has been awarded a contract to replace the Royal New Zealand Navy’s (RNZN) fleet of Naval Sea Boats with Sentinel 780R Rigid-Hulled Inflatable Boats (RHIB).
The contract is for the construction of 17 RHIBS plus an option for three additional boats. The first boat will be delivered in late 2025 and the full order of 17 (+3) boats completed in 2027.
The hulls will be built at Sentinel’s Hobart facilities, before being shipped to New Zealand for their final fit out and commissioning by Hamilton Jet, ENL Marine Electronics, Mainsail Electronics, Hosking Trailers and Shark Seats.The contract will also allow for investigations to be undertaken on the viability of an electricity powered version that could be used for training purposes.
The 7.8m sea boats will be built from High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) and be powered by an inboard diesel with Hamilton Jet propulsion. The RNZN's three larger Littoral Manoeuvre Craft (LMC) are made of the same material and use the same propulsion scheme.
"The fact that Sentinel Boats has been selected over much larger multi-national defence manufacturers is testament to the hard work and pride of the Sentinel team, our partners including one2three naval architects, and the undisputable performance of our boats," said Sentinel Boats CEO, George McGuire.
Global maritime classification society DNV will be engaged to provide independent certification of the design, manufacture and sea trails.