BMT and Austal to collaborate on merchant ship projects
The Austal–BMT strategic agreement signing took place at the Indian Ocean Defence and Security Conference and Exhibition (IODS), held in Perth, Western Australia, 26-28 May 2026. From Left–Right: Trevor Dove, Future Business Director, Asia-Pacific, BMT; James Stokes, President – Australasia, Austal; Graeme Nayler, Regional Business Director, Asia-Pacific, BMT; Oliver Morton, Executive Vice President Sales and Strategy, Austal
(Source: Austal)
British maritime tech firm, BMT, and Australian shipbuilder and defence firm, Austal, have signed a strategic agreement to collaborate on commercial ship projects, providing scalable ship design and boosting engineering capacity.
The agreement, starting this month, sets out how BMT will provide naval architecture and engineering services while Austal will reduce schedule risk while maintaining its focus on core shipbuilding operations. The partners will also work together on some commercial projects, facilitating shorter and more competitive delivery times for customers.
BMT managing director, Graeme Nayler, commented: “BMT has built its reputation over decades by supporting primes and shipbuilders in delivering complex maritime capability through deep, trusted relationships across the shipbuilding community … Together, we bring highly complementary strengths: Austal’s standing as Australia’s strategic shipbuilder, and BMT’s position as Australia’s largest independent maritime design, engineering and assurance capability.”
Oliver Morton, Austal’s EVP, Sales & Strategy, said: “Austal is pleased to formalise this strategic agreement with BMT, building on a long-standing relationship founded on complementary capability and shared ambition. As our shipbuilding programmes continue to grow, access to scalable, specialist design and engineering support will help us respond with agility while maintaining focus on safe, efficient and high-quality shipbuilding delivery.”
