Cape Gloucester Named Best Landing Craft

Fodico Marine Group is pleased to announce that the Cape Gloucester has been awarded Best Landing Craft in the annual Baird Maritime / Work Boat World Awards. This international recognition highlights a disciplined approach to vessel design, engineering integrity, and local Australian craftsmanship.

In their official award review, the editors at Baird Maritime highlighted the vessel's exceptional versatility, thanks to bow and stern ramps that allow loading and unloading of vehicles, machinery and freight without needing to turn the vessel, and an impressively shallow draft of just 1.7m

What truly sets the vessel apart and what caught the attention of the global panel, is how thoughtfully traditional design elements have been adapted for modern, demanding regional operations.

"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 owners 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”. 

Fodico Marine Groups Managing Director, Leon Toy said the Cape Gloucester stands out because she strikes that rare balance between being unique and practical. 

"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.

The Cape Gloucester 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. 

We extend our sincere thanks to Shaun Phelps and the team at Periscope Naval Architects for their design collaboration, as well as the ship building team at Hardwood Marine for bringing the project to life.  We also thank our project partners for their specialist fit-out expertise: Ocean Crafters, Power Equipment, Australian Certified Winches, Ultimate Marine Power, Sweep Marine Services & M2i Electrical Services. 

The comprehensive review and technical analysis of Cape Gloucester can be read in full on the here on the Baird Maritime Website