Papua New Guinea commissions second Guardian-class patrol boat from Australia

The HMPNGS Rochus Lokinap (402). Photo c/o Royal Australian Navy.

The Maritime Element of the Papua New Guinea Defence Force (PNGDF) has commissioned its second Guardian-class patrol boat.

The boat, named HMPNGS Rochus Lokinap (402), was received by the PNGDF from the Australian Government on March 2021, and was commissioned on 13 October 2021 at the Lombrum Naval Base on Manus Island, with the ceremony attended by Australia’s Head of Mission, and the PNGDF’s Deputy Chief of Defence Force Commodore Philip Polewara.

The ship, named after former PNGDF Commander Brigadier General Rochus Lokinap (retired), was gifted by the Australian Government to the PNGDF as part of its commitment under the A$350 million SEA 3036 Pacific Patrol Boat Replacement (PPB-R) Project of the Pacific Maritime Security Program, which involves delivering 4 new Guardian-class patrol boats to the PNGDF, and 17 more to 11 other Pacific island nations.

These boats would be used for border patrols and policing, search and rescue, and other missions to support of the recipient governments.

The project not only improves the maritime security capability of the said nations, but also allows the creating of 200 direct jobs and 200 indirect jobs within Australia.

The Guardian-class are steel-hulled monohull patrol boats that made extensive use of commercial off the shelf parts for easy maintenance. They have a length of 39.5 meters, a beam of 8 meters, and draft of 2.5 meters.

The boats are powered by two Caterpillar 3516C diesel engines allowing a speed of more than 20 knots, and a range of 3,000 nautical miles at 12 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.




[1] Royal Australian Navy
[2] Navy Recognition
[3] Asia Pacific Defense Journal