Welcome to the Web Site for
"Navies" of the Pacific Islands
From Palau in the west, to the Cook Islands in the east.
| This list displays those ships commissioned into the
Small "Navies" of Pacific Island Nations.
Notes:
(i) Dates shown follow the English precedent, ie. Day/Month/Year.
The Pacific Islands Forum.
The Pacific Islands Forum, formally the South Pacific Forum has, since 1971,
provided member nations with the opportunity to express their joint political
views and to co-operate in areas of political and economic concern.
The 16 member countries of the Forum are, Australia, the Cook Islands, the
Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, New Zealand, Nuie, Palau,
Papua New Guinea, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, Samoa, the Solomon
Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.
The Pacific Patrol Boat (PPB) Project, sponsored by the Australian Government,
as part of the Pacific Islands Forum, committed to providing Patrol Boats for
member countries. These standard design PPBs, help meet the expressed needs
of countries in the Pacific for an effective means of protecting their 200nm
Exclusive Economic Zones.
The construction contract was awarded to Australian Shipbuilding Industries
(WA) Pty Ltd (now Tenix Shipbuilding WA (TSWA)) in September, 1985. The 22
vessels have been built at a cost of AUD$142.4M (Feb 97 prices), which includes
training, advisor support and other logistic support aspects.
The 22 PPBs have been provided over a ten year period from May, 1987 to May,
1997, to Papua New Guinea (4), Fiji (3), the Federated States of Micronesia (3),
Tonga (3), the Solomon Islands (2), the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the
Cook Islands, Kiribati, Palau, Samoa, Tuvalu and Vanuatu (all 1 each).
With the first PPB due to reach the end of its planned 15 year life in 2002,
Australia has offered to extend the life of each of the 22 PPBs so that they
are able to operate for a total of 30 years.
Consequently, the Australian Government announced in October, 2000, that all 22
PPBs will now undergo a Life Extension Program (LEP). This will entail a major
capital upgrade for each boat, and Australia will continue to provide training,
advisory and maintenance support over the life of the extension program. This
LEP will extend Australia's involvement in the PPB project out to 2027, at an
estimated cost of AUD$350 million.
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The Royal Australian Navy Homepage
Australian Department of Defence Homepage
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New Zealand Ministry of Defence Homepage
The Unofficial Web Site of the Royal New Zealand Navy
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Copyright � 19 January, 2004,
Terry M. Walsh,
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