Five SA students have been awarded scholarships tied to the offshore patrol vessel program

Five South Australian engineering students will each receive $10,000 in funding as part of the first round of scholarships tied to the state’s $89 billion shipbuilding program.

Scholarship recipients Daniel Bigirimana, Jackson Preus, Andrew Penny, Alec Rusanoff and Kane O’Brien at the OPV construction site at Osborne.

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Five South Australian engineering students will each receive $10,000 in funding as part of the first round of scholarships tied to the state’s $89 billion shipbuilding program.

The scholarships are backed by Luerssen Australia, ASC and Civmec, which are working together to deliver 12 offshore patrol vessels (OPVs) as part of the Australian Navy’s $3.5 billion program.

Seven students in Western Australia and Northern Territory have also been awarded scholarships, which form part of the Shipbuilding Education and Apprenticeship Program administered by the Defence Teaming Centre.

UniSA student and scholarship recipient Kane O’Brien completed an electrician apprenticeship at ASC in 2016, before a recent wave of redundancies led him back to full-time study.

He’s hoping to return to the defence sector after completing his electrical and mechatronic engineering degree.

“I’m definitely looking to get back into the defence sector,” he said.

“I want to finish my studies first, that’s the priority at the moment, but I’m keeping an eye on what’s happening in the industry.

“Working part time, it (scholarship) certainly helps to pay the bills while I’m studying full time.”

ASC chief executive Stuart Whiley said scholarships had been awarded to students completing a range of qualifications.

“ASC is proud to partner with Luerssen and Civmec to launch these scholarships, which will deliver the high-calibre future engineers and tradespeople Australia will require to deliver continuous naval shipbuilding for decades to come,” he said.

The first two OPVs are being built by ASC at Osborne, with the remaining ten to be delivered by Civmec at Henderson in Western Australia.

Construction of the Luerssen-designed vessels, which will be 85 metres in length and equipped with a forward gun turret and helicopter, began last month.

Defence Teaming Centre chief executive Margot Forster said the scholarship program would support more than 5000 skilled employees required to deliver the pipeline of OPVs, frigates and submarines.

“The DTC has been very pleased to work alongside its industry partners to deliver this initiative,” she said.

“Successful applicants have diverse education backgrounds from vocational all the way through to doctorate students.

“This shows that there are so many ways that you can get involved in the naval shipbuilding industry in Australia.”