A key US ally in the Pacific, Australia, has ordered tugboats for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). However, in a shocking twist, these boats were secretly built at a Chinese shipyard, despite burgeoning tensions with Beijing.
The Australian Defense Department awarded a $28 million contract to the Dutch company Damen for a new fleet of tug boats for the Royal Australian Navy. A new ABC News report states that these boats, the first of which has already been delivered, were secretly constructed at a Chinese shipyard under that contract.
According to certification documentation obtained by the publication, the first of three “harbour tugs” was completed in late December 2024 at Damen’s state-of-the-art Changde factory in Hunan Province. It was delivered to Australia earlier this year.
Tugboats are used in military maritime operations to assist in the movement and deployment of big vessels and carriers. They are generally considered crucial to harbor operations because they facilitate the docking and undocking of ships.
Moreover, they can also assist with moving other non-self-propelled objects, such as oil platforms and barges.
While Damens informed the Defense Department in December last year that the tug boat project “will be heavily reliant upon established supply chains both in Australia and overseas,” it allegedly omitted information about potential work expected to take place in China.
Earlier, Damen said the second of Damen’s Azimuth Stern Drive (ASD) 2111 tugboats will reach Australia by May of this year. However, ABC has confirmed that a third vessel will also be delivered before the end of 2025.
Responding to enquiries about the issue, the Defense Department said that while the tugboats are being constructed in China and “fitted out” in Vietnam, they are not “Royal Australian Navy vessels, and will be operated and crewed by a civilian vessel operator.” Thus, distancing the military from the boats constructed in China.
Nonetheless, an unidentified spokesperson from the Defense Department told ABC that it is “retaining the option to crew the vessels in rare situations such as emergencies,” adding that similar tug boats have “provided harbour support to Defence for more than 10 years”.
The Defense Department has, however, refrained from commenting on whether any potential Australian construction options were considered. It has also not commented on whether the new 50-foot tugboats would be deployed to support visiting multinational warships — a prospect that could unsettle the visiting forces.
Despite having the power to ignite a major controversy, this is not the first time such a matter has come to light, as the world is increasingly dependent on Chinese shipyards to meet demand for its commercial trading vessels.
For instance, even China’s biggest rival and adversary, the US military, is known to be dependent on the Chinese warships. A 2023 US Congress report stated: “Three of the ten commercial oil tankers selected to ship fuel for DOD (Department of Defense) as part of the newly enacted Tanker Security Fleet are Chinese-built. As for dry cargo supplies for DOD, 7 of the 12 most recently built ships in the Maritime Security Fleet are Chinese-built.”
The latest revelation sheds light on the rapid growth of China’s shipbuilding sector. In just about twenty years, China has evolved from a minor participant in the global shipbuilding industry to a major player. The China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC), the world’s largest shipbuilder today, has been the primary driver of this phenomenal growth. China has excelled in the construction of both military and civilian ships, as well as in integrating civil and military capabilities.
A single Chinese shipyard had more construction capacity than the whole US sector, Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro informed Congress in 2023. Additionally, the Chinese shipbuilding capability is more than 232 times that of the United States, according to a leaked slide from a US Naval Intelligence presentation. Chinese commercial shipbuilding subsidizes and supports military shipbuilding efforts.
However, the latest revelation could spark internal turmoil within the country, as it comes amid persisting tensions between Australia and China, with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) being considered the primary security threat by Canberra.
The Opposition responded by stating that Defense Minister Richard Marles had “serious questions to answer” about his knowledge of the ships being built in China, and the potential need for security mitigations. “Did Australia’s Defence Minister give the green light for two Royal Australian Navy vessels to be built in a Chinese shipyard or was he not across his brief?” the opposition Defense spokesman, Andrew Hastie, asked.
Australia-China Tensions Persist
The incumbent Labor government, as well as the opposition Coalition, have intensified their anti-China rhetoric ahead of the federal elections to be held in May 2025. Earlier, the two sides vowed to bring back the Darwin Port, which is currently operated by a private Chinese company with alleged links to the Chinese Communist Party, back to Australian ownership.
Moreover, there is a near-unanimous agreement that China’s expanding naval might poses a grave threat to Australian security, which has prompted the acquisition of warships as well as anti-ship missiles for deterrence. Thus, further fuelling tensions between Canberra and Beijing.
Tensions between the two countries began to escalate in 2020 after China imposed several trade restrictions on various Canberra-based imports as punishment for then-Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s demands for an impartial investigation into the origins of COVID-19 in China.
While most of those restrictions were lifted, tensions persist due to China’s alleged expansionist aspirations. For starters, China has been progressively expanding its influence in the Southern Pacific Ocean and establishing new security connections with Pacific Island Countries (PICs). In 2022, China signed a defense cooperation agreement with the Solomon Islands, sparking concerns that a Chinese naval base could be established near Australia.
China has been open about its desire to extend its influence and reach far-off seas, such as Australia’s doorstep. For example, in February of this year, a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) task force conducted two live-fire exercises near Australia and New Zealand without providing sufficient notice.
Australia, with its strategic location in the Indo-Pacific region, has identified China as its most significant security threat, not without reason. China’s aggressive actions, including the coercive handling of territorial disputes and the dangerous interception of ships and planes operating in international waters and airspace over the South China Sea, have been highlighted by Australian officials in the 2023 Defense Strategy Review.
The alienation between Australia and China also stems from the fact that Australia is a close ally of the US. It is anticipated to be a party in a future US-China conflict.
While the Australian leadership has not explicitly stated that it would aid the United States against China, the military ties between the two allies are robust, and areas of cooperation continue to expand. The US is arming Australia to deter China, while Canberra is increasing the American military presence in the country.
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