Australia to provide new Guardian Class Patrol Boat for Samoa

Australia's Foreign Minister announced today that they will be gifting Samoa a Guardian Class Patrol Boat to replace the Nafanua II.

In September 2021, the Samoa Observer reported that the Nafanua II was returning to Apia from Savai'i in August, after transporting officers to the island to reinforce police numbers in preparation for a Human Rights Protection Party (H.R.P.P.) vehicle convoy protest, when it ran aground on a reef in waters outside Salelologa.

In a press conference on Thursday, Australian Foreign Minister Senator Penny Wong announced that Australia will provide a Guardian Class Patrol Boat to replace the Nafanua II.

"I know that will occur [...] next year so we obviously have some production time but we are very pleased to provide a replacement," Senator Wong said.

"We do understand how important these maritime assets are to our island nations as I was pleased to advice the Prime Minister that we will be doing so."

Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mataafa said on Thursday that the Government of Samoa is appreciative of this further development in the country's partnership with Australia.

"I think it's very generous on the part of the Australian Government and people that they are gifting us yet another patrol boat despite the unfortunate circumstances of our last boat and I hope that the lessons learnt from that unfortunate occurrence will help us ensure that we can keep these assets that are generously gifted by our partners and especially in a very critical area of our maritime security," Fiame said.