CIPPB ''Te Kukupa'' is a , built by
Australia and operated by the
Cook Islands
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, image_map = Cook Islands on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg
, capital = Avarua
, coordinates =
, largest_city = Avarua
, official_languages =
, langu ...
.
[
]
Background
When the United Nations Convention on the Laws of the Seas established that all maritime nations exclusive economic zones extended from their shores, Australia designed and built 22 patrol vessel
A patrol boat (also referred to as a patrol craft, patrol ship, or patrol vessel) is a relatively small naval vessel generally designed for coastal defence, border security, or law enforcement. There are many designs for patrol boats, and th ...
s that it then gave to 12 of its neighbours in the Pacific Forum, so they could exercise sovereignty over their zones, from their own resources.[
Australia provided just one vessel to the Cook Islands, and will be providing it with a larger and more capable replacement, from the .][ The replacement is scheduled to be delivered in 2022.
]
Design
Australia designed these vessels using commercial off-the-shelf
Commercial off-the-shelf or commercially available off-the-shelf (COTS) products are packaged or canned (ready-made) hardware or software, which are adapted aftermarket to the needs of the purchasing organization, rather than the commissioning of ...
equipment, rather than high performance military grade equipment to help ease the maintenance burden of maintaining the vessels in small, remote shipyards. ''Te Kukupa'' displaces 160 tons, and is designed to allow its crew to remain at sea for missions of up to ten days.
Operational history
''Te Kukupa'' was delivered in 1989.[ In 1995 it escorted the vaka '']Te Au o Tonga
''Te Au o Tonga'' ("the mist of the South") is a reconstruction of a ''vaka moana'', a double-hulled Polynesian voyaging canoe. It was built in 1994 by former Cook Islands Prime Minister Thomas Davis and the Cook Islands Voyaging Society. It was ...
'' to Moruroa
Moruroa (Mururoa, Mururura), also historically known as Aopuni, is an atoll which forms part of the Tuamotu Archipelago in French Polynesia in the southern Pacific Ocean. It is located about southeast of Tahiti. Administratively Moruroa Atoll i ...
to protest against French nuclear testing
''Gerboise Bleue'' (; ) was the codename of the first French nuclear test. It was conducted by the Nuclear Experiments Operational Group (GOEN), a unit of the Joint Special Weapons Command on 13 February 1960, at the Saharan Military Experimen ...
.[
In January 2012 ''Te Kukupa'' went to the rescue of the yacht ''Bonny'', only to find it empty, with its lone crew-member missing. It later emerged that the yacht had been stolen by a man facing child sex charges. A member of the Cook Islands Police was later convicted of stealing $9,000 from the yacht.
The vessel underwent a major refit in Australia in 2015.]yacht
A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...
, whose engines had failed several days earlier.[
]
Replacement
Australia started building a class of replacements for the original Pacific Forum patrol vessels, in 2017. ''Te Kukupa'' replacement will be named CIPPB '' Te Kukupa II''.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Te Kukupa
Pacific Forum class patrol vessels
1989 ships
Te Kukupa