Fremantle-class patrol boat of the Royal Australian Navy HMAS Townsville was moved under tow from Ross Creek to Cairns for refurbishment works which will be performed by Port of Townsville Limited (POTL).
The vessel arrived in Cairns on December 2 and was lifted into dry dock for the first stage of renovations.
In a joint project between the Townsville Maritime Museum, Port of Townsville Limited (POTL), and the Royal Australian Navy, the vessel will spend approximately four months at the Norship Dockyard in Cairns.
Restoration works will include blasting, sanding, sealing underwater openings and a new paint job. The vessel will return to Townsville in 2016 to take up her place as a star attraction at the Townsville Maritime Museum.
Townsville Maritime Museum Chair Brad Webb said: “The addition of the HMAS Townsville as a centrepiece attraction for the Maritime Museum will be a huge boost that will attract not only tourists but locals as well who are curious to find out more about the vessel that carries their city’s name.”
The movement of HMAS Townsville was a multi-agency operation with Navy, Army Water Transport, Queensland Water Police, Maritime Safety Queensland, the Port of Townsville and local business Pacific Marine Group.
LCDR Peter Mellick , the Navy Harbour Master and Naval Pilot who moved the vessel out of Ross Creek in Townsville and into the dock at NORSHIP, said: “This vessel was gifted by Navy to the city of Townsville in 2007 when she was decommissioned after 26 years of service. She served her entire career based out of Cairns and many of her former crew are still in uniform,”
Built at NQEA in Cairns, HMAS Townsville was laid down in 1979 and commissioned into the RAN in 1981.
She was assigned to naval base HMAS Cairns during her service and was primarily assigned to fisheries protection and border control operations in northern Australian waters. The vessel was decommissioned in 2007.
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