Austal delivers RKS Teanoai II guardian class patrol boat.

According to a press release published by Austal on June 18, 2021, the company has delivered RKS Teanoai II, the eleventh Guardian-class Patrol Boat (GCPB), to the Australian Department of Defence.
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Ceremony for the delivery of the RKS Teanoai II guardian class patrol boat (Picture source: Austal)

The vessel, the RKS Teanoai II, was then gifted by the Australian Government to the Government of the Republic of Kiribati at a certificate signing ceremony held at Austal Australia’s Henderson shipyard. The ceremony was attended by Mr Vince Connelly MP, Member for Stirling, Rear Admiral Wendy Malcolm, Head of Maritime Systems within the Department of Defence Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group (CASG), Air Commodore Fiona Dowse, Senior ADF Officer WA, Ms Fleur Davies, Assistant Secretary, New Zealand, Polynesia and Micronesia at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade; and Honorary Consul-General of Kiribati, Mr Paul Wenham.

The vessel is the first Guardian-class Patrol Boat to be delivered to Kiribati under the Pacific Patrol Boat Replacement Project (SEA3036-1), part of the Australian Government’s Pacific Maritime Security Program; and replaces the original RKS Teanoai, a Pacific-class Patrol Boat delivered in 1994.

Austal Chief Executive Officer Paddy Gregg said the latest delivery of the Pacific Patrol Boat Replacement Project highlighted the resilience, flexibility and efficiency of the teams collaborating from Austal Australia and the Department of Defence.

Faster, with improved seakeeping, better amenities and an enhanced mission capability – including an integrated RHIB stern launch and recovery system – the Guardian-class Patrol Boats provide the Kiribati Police Force with a much improved naval asset to carry out border patrols, regional policing, search and rescue, and many other operations domestically and internationally.

The Pacific Patrol Boat Replacement (PPB-R) Project was awarded to Austal in May 2016, with an additional contract option awarded in April 2018, taking the program to 21 vessels, valued at more than A$335 million.

Twelve Pacific Island nations including Papua New Guinea, Fiji, the Federated States of Micronesia, Tonga, Solomon Islands, Cook Islands, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Palau, Samoa, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Timor Leste will receive the vessels through to 2023.

The Pacific Patrol Boat Replacement Project supports more than 200 direct jobs at Austal Australia and more than 200 indirect jobs nationally through Australian businesses contracted by Austal.

Austal Australia’s expanded service centre in Cairns, incorporating a 1,200 tonne (80 metre LOA) slipway and a 1,120 tonne mobile boat hoist, continues to provide in-service support to the growing Guardian-class Patrol Boat fleet; with more than 100 people now employed in a variety of engineering and sustainment roles in the Far North Queensland city.

The 39.5 metre steel monohull patrol boat – designed, constructed and sustained by Austal Australia – is based on a proven design platform that has included the 38 metre Bay-class, 56 metre Armidale-class and 58 metre Cape-class patrol boats that are in service with the Australian Border Force and Royal Australian Navy.

This ASX announcement has been approved and authorised for release by Paddy Gregg, Austal Limited’s Chief Executive Officer.

The Armidale class is a class of patrol boats built for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Planning for a class of vessels to replace the fifteen Fremantle-class patrol boats began in 1993 as a joint project with the Royal Malaysian Navy, but was canceled when Malaysia pulled out of the process.

The project was reopened in 1999 under the designation SEA 1444, with the RAN as the sole participant. Of the seven proposals tendered, the Austal/Defence Maritime Services (DMS) proposal for twelve vessels based on an enlarged Bay-class patrol boat was selected. Two additional boats were ordered in 2005 to provide a dedicated patrol force for the North West Shelf Venture.