Micronesia receives first Guardian-class patrol boat with another to come

Austal Australia has delivered its 14th Guardian-class patrol boat to the Australian Department of Defence, the company announced on 11 March.

FSS Tosiwo Nakayama is one of two 39.5m-long Guardian-class boats destined for the Federated States of Micronesia under the Pacific Patrol Boat Replacement Project.

Each Guardian-class vessel carries a fast rescue boat powered by two 90hp Yamaha outboard motors, deployed and retrieved by a launch and recovery system fitted at the stern. The vessels are also armed with a 30mm calibre gun along with optional 0.50cal general-purpose machine guns.

The Pacific Patrol Boat Replacement Project was awarded to Austal Australia in May 2016, with an additional contract option awarded in April 2018 that took the programme to 21 vessels with an overall value exceeding A$335 million ($243 million).

A dozen Pacific Island nations will receive the Guardian-class boats by 2023: Papua New Guinea, Fiji, the Federated States of Micronesia, Tonga, Solomon Islands, Cook Islands, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Palau, Samoa, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Timor-Leste.

Austal supports Guardian-class boats from its service centre in Cairns that hosts a 1,200t-capacity and 80m-long slipway, as well as a 1,120t mobile boat hoist.