First Australian-made patrol boat for Papua New Guinea commissioned
The HMPNGS Ted Diro (401) durinf sea trials. Photo c/o Austal. |
The Papua New Guinea Defence Force Maritime Element (PNGDF-ME) commissioned its first Guardian-class patrol boat on 1 February 2019, and was named HMPNGS Ted Diro (401).
The ship was built part of Australia’s commitment to enhance the maritime security capabilities of 13 of its immediate neighbours, mostly small island countries in the Pacific and Timor-Leste, as part of the Royal Australian Navy’s A$350 million SEA 3036 program. 21 patrol boats are to be donated as part of the program.
The Guardian-class is built by Australian shipbuilder Austal, with an overall length of 39.5 meters, a beam of 8 meters, powered by 2 Caterpillar 3516C diesel engines, and has a top speed of 20 knots. It has a crew of 23 men, and was designed to allow a naval gun of up to 30mm calibre, and for port and starboard side 12.7mm heavy machine guns.
Papua New Guinea is expected to receive four (4) Guardian-class patrol boats from Australia. Aside from the PNG, Twelve other countries are expected to receive similar patrol boats from Australia, composed of the Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati Islands, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Palau, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste (East Timor), Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.
Tuvalu is expected to receive the next Guardian-class patrol boat in April 2019, with Austal scheduled to deliver a patrol boat every four months.
[1] Australia Department of Defence
[2] Royal Australian Navy Daily
[3] IHS Jane’s
First Australian-made patrol boat for Papua New Guinea commissioned
Reviewed by Asia Pacific Defense Journal
on
February 14, 2019
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