Austal Limited has announced that Austal Australia has delivered the 20th Guardian-class Patrol Boat to the Australian Department of Defence (DoD) as part of the Pacific Maritime Security Program (PMSP).
The vessel, Tobwaan Mainiku, was accepted by representatives of the DoD at the Austal shipyard in Henderson, Western Australia on 12 July 2024 and will enter service with the Republic of Kiribati.
The PMSP is an initiative by Australia aimed at bolstering the maritime security of its neighbouring Pacific Island nations, such as Timor-Leste, Fiji, Palau, Kiribati, and Tonga. This programme involves maintaining port facilities, providing training, and transferring 21 Guardian-class patrol boats.
Austal Limited Chief Executive Officer Paddy Gregg said the delivery of the 20th Guardian-class patrol boat highlighted the industry-leading productivity of the Pacific Patrol Boat Replacement Project, now comprising 24 vessels.
“The Austal Australia team, together with our valued supply chain and defence industry partners, including the Department of Defence and the Royal Australian Navy, have now delivered 20 Guardian-class patrol boats to the Australian Government since December 2018,” Mr Gregg said.
“Effectively, we’ve delivered one new Guardian-class Patrol Boat every four months (on average) over the past 5 years, highlighting Western Australia’s industry-leading naval shipbuilding capability and productivity. It’s even more impressive when you consider the Austal Australia team has also delivered two Cape-class Patrol Boats, six Evolved Cape-class Patrol Boats and three large high-speed ferries to commercial operators around the world, during the same period.
“We again extend our thanks to our supply chain and defence industry partners for their continued support and collaboration in delivering the Guardian-class Patrol Boats for the Australian Government and our Pacific Island neighbours,” Mr Gregg added.
The 39.5-meter steel monohull patrol boat, designed, constructed, and sustained by Austal Australia, is based on a design platform that has included the 38-meter Bay-class, 56-meter Armidale-class, and 58-meter Cape-class patrol boats currently in service with the Australian Border Force and Royal Australian Navy.
Faster than the previous Pacific-class patrol boats, with improved sea-keeping, better amenities, and an enhanced mission capability, including an integrated RHIB stern launch and recovery system.
Powered by twin Caterpillar diesel engines, the vessel can reach speeds of 20 knots (37 kilometres/23 miles per hour) and has a range of up to 3,500 nautical miles. Each vessel can be equipped with 12.7-millimetre machine guns or similar arms depending on the receiving country’s requirements.
Austal states that the Guardian-class Patrol Boat will provide Kiribati with an effective naval asset to carry out border patrols, regional policing, search and rescue, and many other operations domestically and internationally.
In 2022 the DoD disclosed that serious defects had been discovered on some of the delivered vessels including cracking in the coupling between the engine and the gearbox, and exhaust fumes entering part of the boat. Concerns were also raised that the medical bay in the vessel was using recirculated air, rather than fresh air.
