RSIPV ''Auki'' is one of the Pacific Forum patrol boats

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

gave to the

Royal Solomon Islands Police Force The Royal Solomon Islands Police Force (RSIPF) is the national police force of Solomon Islands and in January 2015 had an establishment of approximately 1,153 officers and 43 police stations across the country. Solomon Islands has no military o ...

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 ...

extending 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 to , Australia agreed to design, build, and give twelve of its fellow members of the Pacific Forum

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 they ...

s, so they could police and extend sovereignty to their exclusive economic zones using their own resources. Australia also helped build bases for the vessels, provide training, and help with maintenance.

Design

Australia designed the vessels 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 ...

equipment instead of cutting-edge, high-performance, military grade equipment, to ease the maintenance burden for their smaller neighbours.

Operational history

''Auki'' helped provide aid to

Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (; ), is an island country in Melanesia located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of northern Australia, northeast of New Caledonia, east o ...

in 2015, after it was struck by the tropical

Cyclone Pam Severe Tropical Cyclone Pam was the second List of the most intense tropical cyclones, most intense tropical cyclone of the South Pacific Ocean in terms of sustained winds and is regarded as one of the worst natural disasters in the history of ...

in March that year. ''Auki'' remained in service after her sister ship ''Lata'' was decommissioned on September 11, 2019. ''Auki'' helped distribute ballot boxes in

, in preparation for a general election, in March 2020. Following detection of a tourist infected with the

Covid-19 virus Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) is a strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19, the respiratory illness responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. The virus previously had the provisional name 2019 novel coro ...

, in Vanuatu, ''Auki'' moored offshore of their opposite number's base, and prepared to begin a 14 day quarantine period, prior to returning to the Solomon Islands.

Replacement

RSIPV ''Auki'' was official decommissioned on March 4, 2021. Australia is scheduled to replace ''Auki'' with the RSIPV ''Taro'', a new, larger and more capable in May 2021.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aiku Naval ships of the Solomon Islands Pacific Forum class patrol vessels 1991 ships