Pacific-class patrol boat

HMPNGS Dreger entering Sydney Harbour in October 2013
Class overview
Name:	Pacific-class patrol boat
Builders:	Australian Shipbuilding Industries
Operators:	12 nations, see Operators
Subclasses:	See Derivatives
Built:	September 1985 to June 1997
In commission:	16 May 1987 to present
Completed:	22
Active:	22
General characteristics
Type:	Patrol boat
Displacement:	162 tonnes full load
Length:	31.5 m (103 ft)
Beam:	8.1 m (27 ft)
Draught:	1.8 m (5.9 ft)
Propulsion:	2 Caterpillar 3516TA diesels, 2820 hp (2.1 MW), 2 shafts
Speed:	20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Range:	2,500 nautical miles (4,600 km; 2,900 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Endurance:	10 days
Complement:	14–18
Sensors and processing systems:	Furuno 1011 surface search radar; I band
Armament:	various small arms, depending on operating country. May include Oerlikon 20 mm cannon, 7.62 mm machine guns, and/or 12.7 mm machine gun. Not all ships are permanently armed.
Notes:	Taken from:

The Pacific class (also known as the Pacific Forum class and the ASI 315 class) is a class of 22 patrol boats built by Australia and donated to twelve South Pacific countries. Constructed from 1985 to 1997 and operated by militaries, coast guards or police forces of the twelve island nations, these boats are supported by the Pacific Patrol Boat Program. They are used primarily for maritime surveillance and fisheries protection.

Following the introduction of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea in 1982, which introduced a 200 nautical miles (370 km; 230 mi) Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) to the territories of all nations with an ocean coastline, several Southwest Pacific island nations found themselves responsible for policing an area of ocean that was beyond their maritime capability, and often significantly larger than their land territories (at its most extreme, the EEZ of Tuvalu dwarfs its landmass by a ratio of almost 1:28,000). Following requests by several Pacific nations for assistance from the governments of Australia and New Zealand, the Australian government created a Defence Cooperation Project, the Pacific Patrol Boat Program to design and provide suitable patrol boats to nearby island nations, along with training and infrastructure to support these ships. The Program was officially announced by Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke during the South Pacific Forum meeting held in Canberra on 29 and 30 August 1983.

Requests for tenders were issued in August 1984, and the contract was awarded to Australian Shipbuilding Industries (ASI), who had designed a small vessel capable of maritime surveillance and interdiction, search and rescue operations, and fisheries protection on 9 May 1985. A prototype was constructed by ASI in 1984; smaller than the Pacific class, the craft was later sold to the Solomon Islands Police Force and named Savo. Construction of the Pacific class began in September 1985. It was initially planned that ten ships would be produced for eight countries, with the first ship, HMPNGS Tarangau delivered to the Papua New Guinea Defence Force on 16 May 1987. The program continued until 15 ships were ordered, then was terminated before being reopened in February 1993. By the time the program concluded, 22 ships had been delivered to 12 countries, with the final ship, FSS Independence, delivered to the Federated States of Micronesia in June 1997. The Pacific Patrol Boat Project is the largest and most complex defence co-operation project ever funded by Australia.