Queensland ship design group wins USMC contract

Queensland Based Sea Transport Group’s sister company Sealease Pty Ltd has signed a 3-year charter for a 73m version of their proven and mature Stern Landing Vessel (SLV) designs, supporting the United States Marine Corps (USMC) for a 3 year period. It’s understood the ship will likely be home-ported in Darwin or Brisbane.

The SLV has a deck capacity of 1,500 tonnes (extendable to 1,800 tonnes) and sufficient range to travel from Los Angeles to Sydney in a single hop.

The quad screw electric-powered vessel uses diesel engines and electric motors and can discharge vehicles and cargo over an unprepared beach. It is currently under construction and will be ready in January 2025, will be used for amphibious littoral training in Northern Australia, Indonesia, and the Southwest Pacific

Some 22 examples of this design are already operating commercially, according to Sea Lease.