ST Marine's bid was in under the defense budget for the project, and it "represented the best value for money and the shortest time out of service," a defense statement said.

ST will carry out the work in Singapore during the 26-year-old ship's scheduled visit while on deployment in Asia. The work will be done to International Maritime Organization standards for environmental protection against oil spills.

The money that the Australian government will save as a result of ST Marine's under-budget bid will be spent on priority repair and maintenance work needed on HMAS Kanimbla and HMAS Manoora.

Both ships are alongside, under a precautionary operational pause issued earlier this month because of much-needed repairs. Work on the two ships will be done concurrently with that of the Success but at Garden Island, Sydney.

The government said overseas companies were allowed to bid for the work on Success because it will be a one-off project. Work of this type never again would have been carried out in Australia. Also, no Australian company had ever undertaken work of this type.

Otherwise, the usual repair and maintenance of Australia's navy ships -- an annual expense of around $78.4 million -- will continue to be carried out in Australia, including the work on Success, around the naval dockyards and suppliers' yards in the Sydney region.

"Next year defense has budgeted to spend $80.4 million on ship repair and maintenance in the Sydney region," the Defense Department said.

"Next year defense will also issue tenders for 5-year contracts for the repair and maintenance of navy ships at Garden Island. This work will all occur in Australia and is worth about half a billion dollars over the five years."

HMAS Success is a Durance class multi-product replenishment oiler, built by Cockatoo Island Dockyard in Sydney. The keel was laid down in 1980 and it was launched in 1984.

The Success is the only ship of its class to be constructed outside of France and the only one to originally not serve in France's navy, the Marine Nationale. It was part of Australia's contribution to the 1991 Gulf War, and was deployed to East Timor, on Timor Island, north of Australia, during riots in the country in 1999 and 2006.

The Manoora and Kanimbla are awaiting repairs because of a report by the Landing Platform Amphibious Sea-Worthiness Board, an independent advisory body to the Chief of Navy, Vice Adm. Russ Crane.

HMAS Kanimbla was built for the U.S. Navy as the USS Saginaw, as was the Manoora, formerly the USS Fairfax County. Both ships were constructed by the National Steel and Shipbuilding Company in San Diego in 1970 and both were acquired by Australia in 1994.

Crane said the decision to sideline the two landing platform amphibious ships was a precaution and he placed the safety of the crew first.

"Our LPAs are a key element of navy capability but if their operation has potential to impact on safety, then this must be addressed quickly and openly," Crane said.

Specialist engineers and the navy's Sea Training Group are close-inspecting each ship's engineering systems, maintenance arrangements and general condition.

"We will make every effort to get both ships back to sea as soon as possible, but we won't be cutting corners," Crane said.

The navy also said the operational pause is not related to a recent small fire on board the Kanimbla, an incident that remains under investigation.

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