RKS Teanoai II at Austal shipyards in Henderson, September 2020. | |
History | |
---|---|
Kiribati | |
Name | RKS Teanoai II |
Operator | Kiribati Maritime Police |
Port of registry | Tarawa |
Yard number | 528 |
Launched | 20-23 April 2020 [1] |
Acquired | 18 June 2021 [2] |
In service | 2021–present |
Homeport | Tarawa |
Identification | |
Status | In service |
General characteristics | |
Type | Patrol boat |
Length | 39.5 m (129 ft 7 in) |
Beam | 8 m (26 ft 3 in) |
Draught | 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in) |
Propulsion | 2 × Caterpillar 3516C diesels, 2 shafts |
Speed | 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph) |
Range | 3,000 nmi (5,600 km; 3,500 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
Complement | 23 |
Sensors and processing systems |
|
RKS Teanoai II (301) is a Guardian-class patrol boat in service with the Kiribati Maritime Police. She was given to the Republic of Kiribati by Australia as part of the Pacific Maritime Security Program, in which Australia donates patrol boats to neighbouring Pacific Island nations in order to improve regional maritime security. [3] She was the eighth boat of her class when launched in April 2020, but became the eleventh to be delivered due to delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. She was officially handed over to the Kiribati police crew at the Austal shipyard in Henderson, Western Australia on 18 June 2021, replacing the 27-year-old Pacific-class patrol boat RKS Teanoai as the small island nation's sole maritime security craft. [1] [4]
Following the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the Pacific Islands nations found themselves in need of capable yet economical vessels to patrol their exclusive economic zones. In an effort to improve regional maritime security as well as diplomatic relations with the island states, the Australian government launched the Pacific Patrol Boat Program in 1983, in which they would build and gift 22 Pacific-class patrol boats to 12 Pacific Island nations over the next 14 years. [5] The patrol boats were built with commercial off-the-shelf-components in order to ease maintenance costs for the island nations. Australia remained involved with maintaining the class for the next three decades, with a refit after 15 years of operation.
The RKS Teanoai was delivered to Kiribati in 1994. [4] [6] She was decommissioned on 5 May 2021, in a ceremony attended by the Australian High Commissioner to Kiribati, David Yardley. [7]
The Australian government announced the Pacific Patrol Boat Replacement Project on 17 June 2014. [8] A contract for the construction of at least 19 boats and an initial seven-year maintenance and support period was signed with Austal on 4 May 2016. [9] [10] [11] The keel of the first vessel was laid on 30 July 2017, before she was launched on 30 May 2018. [11] [12] [13] [14] [15]
The Guardian class uses a steel monohull design based on that of the Bay class, which had been in service with the Australian Border Force since 1999. [9] [16] The patrol boats are 39.5 metres (129 ft 7 in) long with two habitable internal decks below the bridge. [5] They are capable of traveling 3,000 nautical miles (5,600 km; 3,500 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph), and have a maximum speed of 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph). They have two Caterpillar 3516C 2,000- kilowatt (2,700 hp ) diesel engines powering two fixed-pitch propellers. [11] [17] A key design goal being ease of maintenance to accommodate small and isolated shipyards, the class uses commercial off-the-shelf components. [11]
In addition to the commanding officer's quarters, the boats have seven living quarters designed to berth 20 crew members. Three of them are staterooms that have their own showers in order to accommodate a mixed-sex crew. They also have a sick bay with a separate ventilation system, which during normal operations is used as two berths, bringing the total complement up to 23. [5] [18]
The vessels have a stern launching ramp enabling launch of a WRH635 fast rescue boat without requiring the parent ship to first come to a halt. [5] [11] [16] [19] These are SOLAS-certified rigid-hulled inflatable boats designed to carry up to 15 persons. They are 6.35 metres (20 ft 10 in) long, with two Yamaha 67 kW (90 hp) outboard motors and an operational weight of 2,612.5 kilograms (5,760 lb). [20] [21] The stern is also equipped with a port side crane serving a 16-square-metre (170 sq ft) cargo deck. [11] [17]
Australia instructed that the boats would be delivered without armament, but they were designed to be capable of mounting an autocannon of up to 30 millimetres (1.2 in) on their foredeck, and a 0.50-calibre machine gun both port and starboard in front of the bridge. [5]
In June 2022, three design flaws were reported in the media. This included cracking in the coupling between the engine and the gear box, the sick bay ventilation system recirculating air and an exhaust leak causing carbon monoxide to enter the normally non-crewed engine compartment. [22] [23] [24]
The Teanoai II was the eighth Guardian-class patrol boat to be launched by Austal, between 20 April and 23 April 2020, and was originally scheduled to be delivered to the Kiribati Police Maritime Unit later in the summer. [4] However, the Kiribati police crew were at the time unable to collect her due to Covid-19 travel policies, which pushed her delivery into 2021. [1] [2]
She was eventually given to Kiribati in a certificate signing ceremony in Henderson on 18 June 2021, and thus became the eleventh boat of her class. In attendance were, among others, Mr Vince Connelly (MP for Stirling) and Mr Paul Wenham (Honorary Consul General to Kiribati), along with the Teanoai II's first commanding officer, Superintendent Tom Redfern, and the rest of her new crew. [2] [25]
She arrived in her home port of Tarawa in mid-August, having sailed via Cairns and the Solomon Islands. [26]
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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.
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RSIPV Gizo (05) is a Guardian-class patrol boat in service with the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force Maritime Department. She was the fifth boat of her class to be completed. Australian officials officially handed her over to representatives of the Solomon Islands on 8 November 2019, at the Austal shipyard in Henderson, Western Australia.
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The vessel is to be delivered to Kiribati under the Australian Government's Pacific Maritime Security Program. The boat, to be named RKS Teanoai II (301), will replace the Republic of Kiribati Police's Pacific Forum-class patrol boat, RKS Teanoai (301).
The Teanoai II was originally scheduled for delivery in the middle of 2020, but due to the COVID19 pandemic was postponed until such time as we could get the Kiribati crew safely into Australia, [...] While the delivery of this particular vessel was postponed, it did not affect, delay or hinder the construction or delivery of subsequent Guardian-class Patrol Boats
Next year Fiji, Palau, Kiribati and Tonga will receive their boats. Following this, a new patrol boat will be delivered approximately every three months until 2023. Australia has committed $2bn to the program over the next 30 years.
originally scheduled for delivery in mid-2020, but was delayed due to COVID-19 pandemic concerns.The new boat will replace the RKS Teanoai, a Pacific-class patrol boat delivered in 1994 also as a donation by the Australian Government.
The Pacific Patrol Boats are gifted by Australia as sovereign assets, and have enabled Pacific Island countries to take an active role in securing their own borders and resources – to the benefit of the region overall. The PPBs are used to undertake a wide range of tasks, from fisheries enforcement, to Search and rescue, to movement of ballot boxes.
Teanoai II is the 11th Guardian-class patrol boat to be built and the first to be handed over to Kiribati. It will replace a similarly named patrol boat that has been operating with the Kiribati Police Service since 1994.
first sailed the waters of Kiribati in the year 1994. As caring as the name itself, Teanoai [...] On 5th May 2021, spending a few final moments with RKS Teanoai as she was decommissioned [...] The Australian High Commissioner HE David Yardley, was delighted to participate in a fitting farewell
under the Pacific Patrol Boat Replacement Project (SEA3036-1), part of the Australian Government's Pacific Maritime Security Program; and replaces the RVS Tukoro, a Pacific-class Patrol Boat delivered in 1987.Alt URL
As part of the $280 million (ex-GST) contract Austal will design and construct the first 19 vessels in Henderson, securing more than 120 jobs for Western Australia.
The new 'Guardian' class patrol boats will come to replace the 12 Pacific Island nations' ageing 'Pacific' class patrol boats, which had been gifted by Australia under the PPB programme implemented in 1983. The first vessel is scheduled for delivery to Papua New Guinea, who will receive a total of four patrol boats, by October 2018 and the last vessel is scheduled for delivery by 2023.
Another milestone has been reached in Australia's continuous naval shipbuilding program with a ceremonial keel laying for the first new Pacific Patrol Boat.
The first of a new fleet of patrol boats destined for Australia's Pacific neighbours has been launched by Australian shipbuilder Austal.
Austal [...] today announced the first of 21 Guardian Class, Pacific Patrol Boats (PPB-R) has been launched just two years after the contract was awarded, keeping with the schedule and budget for the project. [...] with a further contract awarded in April, 2018 for two additional vessels for AU$29.7 million.
Austal will design, construct and deliver the 19 steel-hulled patrol boats (valued at $280 million) to 12 Pacific Island nations. The contract includes an option for two additional vessels.
The change rooms are a necessary addition because in August 2019, the wing will receive an Australian government-funded Guardian Class Patrol Boat, which will be used by both male and female police.
They are capable of operating in Sea State 4 and are equipped with a "game changing" stern-launched zodiac (inflatable boarding vessel), which is a first for both the PNG and the Australian navy.
The WRH635FRB [...] developed as a 15 persons Fast Rescue Boat for Survey and Stand-By vessels. [...] Overall length: 6.35 m Overall width: 2.80 m [...] Weight operational (including 15 persons and 2 x 90 HP engine): 2.612,5 kg
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.
Vanuatu's patrol boat RVS Takuare remains docked at the SinoVan wharf in Port Vila where it has been since the second week of June because of an engine defect. [...] was producing carbon monoxide, and black smoke could be seen on the covering of the exhaust. The commander said he didn't want to risk continuing using the Takuare because the emissions could harm the team in the engine room
Pacific island countries may halt the use of Australian-provided patrol boats after potentially serious defects were discovered, in a blow to a $2.1bn maritime security program. [...] medical bay in the vessel uses recirculated air, rather than fresh air. [...] fault in the exhaust system. It is understood carbon monoxide was entering a compartment.
Technical faults have been reported in patrol boats being donated by Australia to its Pacific neighbours. Austal Australia is building 22 Guardian-class patrol boats for Pacific nations, but faults have been identified that have seen a number of vessels awaiting rectification. The chief problem relates to the type's exhaust system.
RKS Teanoai II is the 11th vessel to be delivered across the Pacific under the program. Alongside Honorary Consul General for Kiribati Paul Wenham, Commanding Officer Superintendent Tom Redfern accepted RKS Teanoai II on June 18 on behalf of the Government of Kiribati in a ceremony at Henderson, Western Australia.
The Kiribati Newsroom reports the RKS Teanoai II arrived in Kiribati waters this week after a long journey from Western Australia through Cairns and Solomon Islands.