According to a press release published by Austal Limited on March 11, 2022, the company announced the delivery of the 14th Guardian-class Patrol Boat (GCPB) to the Australian Department of Defence.
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Guardian-class patrol boat FSS Tosiwo Nakayama (Picture source: Austal)
The vessel, FSS Tosiwo Nakayama, was then gifted by the Australian Government to the Federated States of Micronesia at a certificate signing ceremony held at Austal’s shipyard in Henderson, Western Australia.
The vessel is the first of two Guardian-class Patrol Boats to be delivered to the Federated States of Micronesia under the Pacific Patrol Boat Replacement Project (SEA3036-1), part of the Australian Government’s Pacific Maritime Security Program.
Austal Limited Chief Executive Officer Paddy Gregg said the new vessel was the first of an unprecedented nine naval ships scheduled for delivery to the Commonwealth of Australia in 2022 - including five Guardian-class patrol Boats and four Evolved Cape-class Patrol Boats.
The Pacific Patrol Boat Replacement Project was awarded to Austal Australia 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 center in Cairns, incorporating a 1,200 tonne (80 meter 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 vessel will be 39.5 meters (129 ft 7 in) long, steel monohull design, capable of traveling 3,000 nautical miles (5,600 km; 3,500 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph), with a maximum speed of 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph). She is designed to berth a complement of 23 crew members.
