During the sea trials, in addition to the more traditional elements of sea trials such as manoeuvring and speed tests, Damen said Sycamore was put through her paces with an extensive testing program of all onboard military systems. This included testing of the air traffic radar, flight deck lighting and firefighting, flight deck communication systems and helicopter traverse installation procedure.

The Dutch company told Defence Connect it is expecting the new ship to provide jobs in NSW for the next 30 years and is expecting the operation and maintenance of the ship to provide a boost of $50 million to the NSW economy during its service.

The Australian registered vessel is fully certified by Lloyd's Register and compliant will all relevant International Maritime Organization regulations. It will initially be based at HMAS Waterhen in Waverton, NSW.

It is commercially crewed with full military helicopter and UAV capability.

MV Sycamore's primary mission is training of helicopter/UAV pilots and flight deck crew, including simulated HIFR (Helicopter In-Flight Refuelling) operations.

The vessels secondary missions include:

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• Sea familiarisation training;
• Diving support;
• Consort duties;
• Practice weapon recovery; and
• Navigation training.

Damen is one of the three companies tendering for the $3 billion Offshore Patrol Vessel contract.