Western Samoan patrol vessel Nafanua

History
Western Samoa
Name: Nafanua
Launched: 1988
Status: Ship in active service
General characteristics
Class and type: Pacific Forum-class patrol boat
Displacement: 162 tons
Length: 103 ft (31 m)

Nafanua is a Pacific Forum patrol vessel operated by Western Samoa's police.[1] Like her 21 sister ships she was built in Australia. After the United Nations Convention on the Laws of the Seas extended maritime nations' exclusive economic zones to 200 kilometres (110 nmi) Australia agreed to give its smaller neighbours in the Pacific Forum patrol vessels of their own, so they could police their own sovereignty.[2] Nafanua is the ship Australia gave to Samoa.

Design

Nafanua, and her sister ships, were designed to use commercial off-the-shelf components, not cutting edge, military-grade equipment, so that they would be easier to maintain in small, isolated shipyards.[1]

Operational history

In September 2014 Nafanua rescued four fishermen from American Samoa, whose vessel had broken down, who were found adrift 185 miles south of Apia.[3]

In October 2014 the government agreed for Nafanua to patrol neighbouring Cook Islands's waters, because their patrol vessel, Te Kukupa, was undergoing a major refit in Australia.[3]

Royal Australian Navy sailors visited Nafanua in June 2018 to provide technical assistance.[4]

Replacement

Australia started building a class of replacements for the original Pacific Forum patrol vessels, in 2017.

References

  1. 1 2 Linda McCann (August 2013). "The Future of Australia's Pacific Patrol Boat Program: the Pacific Maritime Security Program" (PDF). Shedden Papers. The Centre for Defence and Strategic Studies: 21–22. Retrieved 29 December 2013.
  2. ↑ Dave Morley (2015-12-03). "Lifelines across Pacific" (PDF). Navy News. 58 (23). p. 8. Retrieved 2018-08-12. The program involves 22 Australian-gifted patrol boats to 12 Pacific island countries, the majority of which are operated by police services.
  3. 1 2 "News from Cabinet, 10 October 2014". Government of Western Samao. 2014-10-10. Retrieved 2018-08-09. Cabinet approved the return home, to American Samoa, of four crew members who were rescued by the Police patrol boat Nafanua on 21st September 2014.
  4. ↑ Sarah West (2018-06-22). "Ship bolsters crucial partnerships during 'Success'ful' visit to Samoa". Navy Daily. Retrieved 2018-08-12. Sailors from the ship’s Electrical and Marine Technical departments volunteered to help their friends in the Samoa Police Service Maritime Wing conduct vital maintenance work on the Pacific Patrol Boat SPB Nafanua, complementing the assistance already provided through the Defence Cooperation Program (DCP).
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.