TSAMTO, June 22. Austal Limited (Austal) on 18 June announced the delivery of its Austal Australia division to the Australian Ministry of Defence of a Guardian-class patrol boat intended for the Republic of Kiribati.
On the same day, the boat, named Teanoai II, was handed over to the Government of the Republic of Kiribati in a ceremony held at the Austal Australia facility in Henderson.
Tenaoai II was the first Guardian-class patrol boat transferred to Kiribati and the 11th in the series to be delivered as part of the Australian Government's PPBR (Pacific Patrol Boats Replacement) project for Pacific island States. It will replace the Tenaoai patrol boat, delivered by Kiribati in 1994. The boat was originally scheduled to be delivered in mid-2020, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the transfer dates were pushed back.
As reported by TSAMTO, in May 2016, the Australian government signed a basic contract with Austal for the supply of 19 steel-hulled patrol boats under the Pacific Maritime Security Program (PMSP). In April 2018, the Australian Ministry of Defence announced that it would supply two additional Guardian-class boats to the East Timor Defence Force. Thus, the total number of ships to be built by Austal has increased to 21 units, and the cost of the project - to 335 million austr. dollars.
The supply of boats is planned to be carried out at intervals of 2-3 months. In total, they are planned to be transferred to the Governments of 12 States, including Papua New Guinea, Fiji, the Federated States of Micronesia, Tonga, the Solomon Islands, the Cook Islands, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Palau, Samoa, East Timor and Vanuatu.
The lead boat of the series, the 401 Ted Diro, was transferred to Papua New Guinea in November 2018. According to the schedule, the program will end with the delivery of boats to East Timor in the second half of 2023. Maintenance of the ships will be carried out at the Austal Australia repair facility in Cairns. Currently, Austal is considering additional opportunities to supply boats for export.
The new steel 39.5-meter boats will replace the "Pacific Patrol Ships" previously delivered to the island states of the Pacific region, whose service life is nearing completion. They will allow these countries to independently control their exclusive economic zone, will be used to ensure maritime security and protect marine resources.
