The Commonwealth is set to order another Guardian class patrol boat from Austal as part of the Pacific Maritime Security Program (PMSP). The additional vessel forms part of Australia’s commitment under a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed with Kiribati in late February 2023.
Kiribati was originally slated to receive only one vessel, RKS Teanoai II, which was handed over back in 2021. The announcement means that, since the initial contract signature in 2016, the scope of the Pacific Patrol Boat Replacement (PPB-R) has grown from 19 to 23 hulls with Boat 23 allocated to Kiribati.
Boats 20 through 21 were added once Timor Leste officially signed onto the program in 2018, while Boat 22 was added in November last year to replace Samoa’s lost Nafanua II. While it was originally speculated that Boat 22 would be directly gifted to Samoa, it’s now been confirmed by the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) that it will instead replace Boat 18, which was reassigned from the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) to Samoa. According to the ANAO, the Commonwealth expects delivery of Boat 22 from Austal in quarter three of 2024.
It’s not yet clear when Boat 23 will be delivered, though based on the public timeline for Boat 22, the official contract should be awarded by the beginning of quarter three this year, with delivery presumably taking place in 2025.
Aside from the new vessels, the program is continuing to grapple with a number of technical issues which have impacted boat availability and readiness. These issues, while serious, are not expected to seriously challenge the program in the medium to long term according to the ANAO.
While latent defects impacting the vessel's exhaust, sewage and safety systems are having an impact on vessel availability and capability according to the ANAO, work to rectify faults is progressing and they aren’t considered to be a major threat to the long-term program goals.
“None of the issues experienced by the [Pacific Patrol Boat Replacement] project are considered serious threats to the full capability being realised once the project concludes.”
Across the region, work to fix the various faults, mainly centred around the engine’s exhaust system and atmospheric systems, is progressing. At the time of writing, Austal technicians and local Ni-Vanuatu subcontractors are making modifications to both Vanuatu's boat, RVS Takuare, and Tuvalu's HMTSS Te Mataili II in Port Vila. Newer build boats, from Boat 16, will have the necessary modifications completed before delivery to Pacific partner countries.