HMTSS ''Te Mataili II'' (802) is the second completed, and the first to be given to the small
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...
nation
Tuvalu
Tuvalu ( ) is an island country in the Polynesian subregion of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean, about midway between Hawaii and Australia. It lies east-northeast of the Santa Cruz Islands (which belong to the Solomon Islands), northeast of Van ...
.
[ She was commissioned on 5 April 2019, replacing , a Pacific Forum patrol vessel, that had reached the end of her designed lifetime.][
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Background
Following the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), also called the Law of the Sea Convention or the Law of the Sea Treaty, is an international treaty that establishes a legal framework for all marine and maritime activities. , 169 sov ...
extension of maritime nations' exclusive economic zone
An exclusive economic zone (EEZ), as prescribed by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, is an area of the sea in which a sovereign state has exclusive rights regarding the exploration and use of marine natural resource, reso ...
s (EEZs) to , Australia agreed to provide twelve of its neighbours with 22 Pacific Forum-class patrol vessels, so they could exercise sovereignty over their territory, including their extended EEZs, using their own resources.[ The first vessel was delivered in 1987, and in 2015 Australia announced plans to replace the original patrol boats with larger and more capable vessels.
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Design
Australian ship builder Austal
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-spee ...
won the $335 million Australian dollar
The Australian dollar (currency sign, sign: $; ISO 4217, code: AUD; also abbreviated A$ or sometimes AU$ to distinguish it from other dollar, dollar-denominated currencies; and also referred to as the dollar or Aussie dollar) is the official ...
contract for the project, and built the vessels at its Henderson shipyard, near Perth.[ Guardian-class vessels were designed to use ]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 ...
components, not cutting edge, military grade equipment, to make them easier to maintain in small isolated shipyards.
The vessels are long, can travel at .[ Their maximum speed is .][ Their design allows the recipient nations to mount a pair of heavy machine guns, on either flank, and possibly an autocannon of up to , on the foredeck.
]
Operational career
In July 2019, Inspector
Inspector, also police inspector or inspector of police, is a police rank. The rank or position varies in seniority depending on the organization that uses it.
Australia
The rank of Inspector is present in all Australian police forces excep ...
Seleganui Fusi, commanding officer of ''Te Mataili II'', hosted a delegation from Timor
Timor (, , ) is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is Indonesia–Timor-Leste border, divided between the sovereign states of Timor-Leste in the eastern part and Indonesia in the ...
, letting them prepare for the arrival of their patrol vessels.[
''Te Mataili II'' was severely damaged by a cyclone in Vanuatu in March 2023 and was sent to Australia for repairs.]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Te Mataili II
2018 ships
Guardian class patrol vessels
Te Mataili II