A patrol boat is a relatively small naval vessel generally designed for coastal defence, border security, or law enforcement. There are many designs for patrol boats, and they generally range in size. They may be operated by a nation's navy, coast guard, police, or customs, and may be intended for marine, estuarine, or river environments.
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 cancelled 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.
The Sea Tigers was the naval wing of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam during the Sri Lankan Civil War. It was founded in 1984. The Sea Tigers had a number of small but effective suicide bomber vessels. During its existence it had gained a reputation as a capable adversary for the Sri Lankan Navy. During the civil war, the Sea Tigers had sunk at least 29 Sri Lankan small inshore patrol boats, 20 Dvora Class fast attack craft, 3 gunboats, 2 Large surveillance command ships, and one freighter.
The Australian Patrol Boat Group is a Force Element Group (FEG) of the Royal Australian Navy. It manages the Navy's patrol boats.
The Pacific class is a class of 22 patrol boats built by Australia and donated to twelve South Pacific countries. They were constructed between 1985 and 1997 and are operated by militaries, coast guards or police forces of twelve island nations. These boats are supported by the Pacific Patrol Boat Program and used primarily for maritime surveillance and fisheries protection.
HMAS Pirie, named for the city of Port Pirie, South Australia, is an Armidale-class patrol boat of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).
The Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) is the naval arm of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces and is classed as the country's most vital defence force due to its island geography and is responsible for the maritime defence of the Sri Lankan nation and its interests. The role of the Sri Lanka Navy is to conduct operations at sea for the defence of the nation and its interests and conduct prompt and sustainable combat operations at sea in accordance with the national policies.
Project Protector was a Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) procurement project that was undertaken during the 2000s. At the start of the decade, the New Zealand government tasked the New Zealand Defence Force to develop an equal combat, peacekeeping, and disaster relief capability, in which the RNZN was to focus on conducting sealift operations and patrols of the Economic Exclusion Zone. A series of reviews found that the RNZN was lacking in these capabilities, and Project Protector was established to acquire three new ship types: a single multi-role sealift ship, two offshore patrol vessels, and four inshore patrol vessels. After a two-year information-gathering and tender process, an Australian company, Tenix Defence, was selected as the primary contractor.
HMAS Bundaberg, named after the city of Bundaberg, was an Armidale class patrol boat of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). The ship was built in Henderson, Western Australia, and was commissioned into the RAN in March 2007. Based at HMAS Cairns, Bundaberg spent much of her career deployed as part of border protection and fisheries protection patrols as part of Operation Resolute. In addition, the patrol boat was involved in several national and multinational training exercises, visited Vanuatu in 2011, tracked a suspected drug-smuggling vessel that led to a multimillion-dollar seizure, and participated in the International Fleet Review 2013. In August 2014, a large fire broke out on the ship while she was undergoing refit. Extensive damage from the fire led to the ship's decommissioning in December 2014.
HMAS Wollongong, named for the city of Wollongong, was an Armidale-class patrol boat of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).
The Marine Unit, formerly the Australian Customs Service National Marine Unit, is a division of the Australian Border Force which acts as a Coast Guard in guarding Australia's coast. The Marine Unit focuses on surveillance and response activities within the Australian Economic Exclusion Zone, and the operation and training of ships and crews to do so.
Austal Limited is an Australian-based global ship building company and defence prime contractor that specialises in the design, construction and support of defence and commercial vessels. Austal's product range includes naval vessels, high-speed ferries, and supply or crew transfer vessels for offshore windfarms and oil and gas platforms.
OPV Nemesis is an offshore patrol vessel of the New South Wales Police Force. It was purchased in 2008 to replace two older 22-metre vessels. It is designed to support a range of police operations up to 200 nautical miles out to sea, including detecting illegal immigration, smuggling and drug trafficking and supporting counter terrorism and search and rescue missions.
Australian Defence Vessel (ADV) Ocean Protector is an auxiliary naval vessel of the Royal Australian Navy manned and managed by Teekay.
Australian Border Force Cutter (ABFC) Ocean Shield is an offshore patrol vessel operated by the Australian Border Force. The ship was originally ordered in 2010 by DOF Subsea as an offshore support vessel, and was laid down by STX OSV as MSV Skandi Bergen in 2011. In 2012, the Australian Department of Defence was seeking a short-term replacement for the decommissioned Kanimbla-class amphibious landing ships, and negotiated to purchase the under-construction Skandi Bergen from DOF Subsea. The ship was completed, and entered Royal Australian Navy (RAN) service in mid-2012 as the civilian-crewed Australian Defence Vessel (ADV) Ocean Shield.
The Cape class is a ship class of 22 large patrol boats operated by the Marine Unit of the Australian Border Force, the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) and the Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard. Ordered in 2011, the vessels were built by Austal to replace Customs' Bay-class patrol boats, and entered service from 2013 onwards. Following availability issues with the Armidale class, two vessels were chartered by the RAN from mid-2015 to late 2016. A further two vessels were ordered at the end of 2015 by the National Australia Bank, who will charter the patrol boats to the Department of Defence from completion in 2017. 2 vessels were ordered by Trinidad and Tobago for their coast guard in 2018 with the vessels delivered in 2021. The RAN placed an order for six 'Evolved' Cape-class vessels in 2020, a second order in 2022 for an additional two vessels, and a third order in 2023 for a further two vessels.
The Guardian-class patrol boats are a class of small patrol vessels designed and built in Australia and provided to small South Pacific Ocean countries as part of the Australian Government's Pacific Maritime Security Program.
ABFC Cape Leveque, named after Cape Leveque in Western Australia, is a Cape-class patrol boat of the marine unit of the Australian Border Force.
