AWARDS 2025 | Best Landing Craft – Cape Gloucester – Periscope Naval Architects & Fodico Marine Group

This versatile landing craft was recently placed into service by Australia's Fodico Marine Group, representing the largest and most capable vessel in its fleet of three landing craft.

Built to a design by Periscope Naval Architects, Cape Gloucester features operational flexibility, thanks to bow and stern ramps that allow loading and unloading of personnel, vehicles, and freight without needing to turn the vessel, and an impressively shallow draught of just 1.7 metres.

The expansive 484-square-metre clear working deck supports high deck loading strength, making it ideal for heavy logistical support in Australia, New Zealand, and Papua New Guinea. The vessel combines practical barge-like simplicity with a sleek, modern exterior.

"She is state-of-the-art when it comes to shallow-draught landing craft," Shaun Phelps, Director at Periscope Naval Architects, told Baird Maritime. "The owner was very forward-thinking in its brief and gave us the liberty to develop a design that was out of the box of the traditional landing craft design.

"She has quite distinctive superstructure styling, which was a wish from the owner. She makes an impact and stands out on the water. She has a refined hull form compared to the typical flat panel landing craft design, and this aspect, combined with beautifully faired propeller tunnels, delivers a hull form efficiency quite unique in this vessel sector."

Phelps remarked that the owner's decades of experience operating these vessels enabled Periscope to ensure that all the important aspects of the vessel operations are optimised. The geometry of the bow door and the forward lines create a beach landing capability, "that is as good as it can be."

The vessel's aluminium superstructure helped to create a considerable margin on stability and make for a comfortable experience on board. According to Phelps, the stable platform, combined with her high-quality fit out, enables the vessel to seamlessly bridge the gap between workboats and passenger vessels.

"Cape Gloucester stands out because she strikes that rare balance between being unique and practical," added Leon Toy, Managing Director at Fodico. "She is not a 'unicorn' vessel built around experimental ideas; she’s special because she’s grounded in five decades of proven Australian coastal engineering. That foundation gives her reliability, predictability, and operational confidence that many newbuild vessels simply do not have."

Toy commented that what distinguishes Cape Gloucester from a traditional vehicle ferry is how thoughtfully the tried-and-tested design elements have been adapted and refined.

"Her shallow draught and propeller arrangement are not theoretical solutions; they are the evolution of vessels that have been successfully built, operated, and improved in-house for over 30 years. That lineage shows in the way she handles, the low maintenance demands, and the operational flexibility she offers in tidal or constrained environments."

Toy also pointed out the vessel's under-house height clearance of 4.6 metres paired with a full-deck point-loading capacity of 20 tonnes per square metre. In his view, that combination genuinely sets the vessel ahead of conventional ferries, which usually restrict heavy vehicles to dedicated lanes.

On Cape Gloucester, the entire deck is heavy-load capable, which transforms loading plans, cuts turnaround times, and allows machinery and road trains to be positioned wherever operationally best, not where the vessel design forces the cargo to be placed.

"The addition of the stern ramp is another decisive advantage," added Toy. "It’s not just a convenience feature; it’s what makes true drive-on/drive-off operations possible for long or multi-trailer combinations. When handling road trains, that ramp becomes essential. It preserves flow, reduces manoeuvring, and eliminates the bottlenecks that plague many otherwise capable ferries."

Overall, Toy believes that what makes Cape Gloucester special is not a single innovation.

"It’s the way every part of her design is intentional, proven, and adapted for real-world Australian conditions. She is built from experience, not theory, and that makes her not just unique, but uniquely reliable."

Toy explained that during the vessel’s fabrication phase, the project was impacted by several delays, arising from both controllable and unforeseen factors. The onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, an event that he said could not have been anticipated, created substantial disruptions across the shipyard’s operations and materially affected the originally agreed schedule.

"Additionally, the availability of suitably priced and appropriately skilled local labour was significantly constrained. This market limitation extended the steel fabrication timeline beyond initial expectations. However, once the project transitioned into the fit-out phase and sea trials, both of which were managed internally by our team, progress stabilised considerably. These stages were completed with greater efficiency and placed the project in a far stronger position moving toward delivery."

For Phelps, the design process was "really enjoyable," and he said he was highly appreciative of the opportunity to learn from the vessel's owner, Dennis Toy, who has been operating these vessels for decades.

"We had some issues in the beginning with the application of Lloyd’s Rules for Ships to this size vessel," said Phelps. "In particular the rule set doesn’t cater very well for aluminium construction. We managed to work through this with class and in the end, the main challenges were balancing the owner’s expectation of the vessel arrangement with the regulatory requirements."

In order to meet the current regulations, the arrangement ended up being significantly more complex than those of typical coastal landing barges that are operating up and down the coast. For instance, there are a number of features on the vessel dedicated to fire safety for passengers that are not present on other vessels of this size.

"As far as I know she is the first DCV landing craft within a passenger service category that is fully compliant with all current AMSA requirements for fire and escape. She has dedicated passenger evacuation routes on each side of the vessel that are fully protected from the vehicle deck."

In addition to Cape Gloucester, another project undertaken by Periscope is a 24-metre aluminium passenger vessel. The vessel will boast hybrid propulsion in response to growing demand for hybrid or all-electric platforms, which Phelps said is a trend that has been building momentum in naval architecture.

"Whilst I agree that safety is paramount, it’s a real challenge to make a project like this feasible with that extra layer of cost," Phelps told Baird Maritime. "Something needs to change in this space or the new projects will taper off.

Toy meanwhile believes the commercial marine sector appears to be maintaining a stable outlook.

"Our interactions with regulatory bodies have continued to improve, with processes becoming increasingly transparent and user-friendly for operators within our segment of the industry," said Toy. "Continued investment in coastal infrastructure and marina facilities will be highly beneficial, particularly as activity along the East Coast of Queensland continues to grow each year.

"In addition, there is a clear and pressing need for a large-capacity travel lift—within the 300- to 600-ton range—to service the Central and North Queensland regions. Such an asset would greatly enhance the capability and efficiency of vessel maintenance and servicing in these areas."

Toy also forecasts an increase in vessel utilisation over the next three to five years as several major projects commence across the region. This was driven by the fact that the year 2025 saw a high volume of vessel slippings and refits being completed by Fodico while the company continued to deliver a diverse project workload.

"Our fleet is well-positioned to meet this demand," said Toy. "We offer clients modern, project-ready equipment that has been extensively trialled, proven in the field, and maintained to a high standard. This places us in a unique and competitive position to support upcoming project requirements with confidence and reliability."

Phelps remarked that the previous year was also a productive one for Periscope.

"We had a full vessel refit of a 50-metre Australian naval officer's ship that was built in 1973 and rebuilt as a yacht in the early 2000s. Outside of that, we’ve had numerous other modification jobs and equipment installs. Swim platform extensions have become a real feature of our recent work."

On the newbuild side, Periscope had a 12-metre luxury catamaran and a 24-metre tourist catamaran under construction, both in aluminium. Phelps said these projects are continuing into this year with the builder of the 12-metre vessel moving onto another hull.

"The future looks good on the design side. There is new energy around a design for another landing craft and so we're hoping we can get started on that soon."

Phelps added that the future will also witness the proliferation of hybrid-powered vessels and windfarm support vessels, particularly within Australia.

"I think the trajectory to decarbonisation and support of these industries such as offshore wind is now set," he told Baird Maritime. "We need to advance our domestic regulatory framework around these propulsion systems if we are to streamline this opportunity and not be cost-prohibitive to build here.

"The push to defence is exacerbating the shortage of skills in the commercial sector and this is only going to increase. Therefore, we need more naval architects coming through our university pathways."

Toy meanwhile remarked that in Australia, the fishing industry has been in apparent decline, which he believes is partly the result of ineffective policy settings.

"Responsibly wild-caught seafood should continue to play an important role in the lives of Australians, both culturally and economically," said Toy. "Historically, many local innovations in marine technology and mechanical systems have originated from Australia’s commercial fishing sector. This contribution forms an important part of the broader marine industry, and its decline places not only these operators at risk but also the many small coastal towns that rely on fishing as a key economic driver."

As for the global specialised shipping industry to which vessels like Cape Gloucester belong, Toy believes it is preparing for a significant shift toward autonomy and AI-driven solutions across a wide range of operational requirements, from loading plans and ballast management to broader shipboard systems and general vessel operations.

"While integrating advanced technologies into existing vessels can still feel cumbersome and complex, this is expected to become increasingly seamless as solutions mature and integration frameworks improve.

"As these technologies continue to evolve, operators will benefit from greater efficiency, enhanced safety, and more informed decision-making. The pace of development suggests that AI-enabled systems will play a central role in shaping the next generation of marine operations."

For a list of the 2025 "Best Of" award winners, please click here.