Tag: patrol boat

Palau to get new patrol boat from Australia on June 2020

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Palau President Tommy Remengesau Jr. (left) Australia’s Ambassador to Palau , George Fraser and Maritime Surveillance Advisor, LCDR Clint Moore (right). Photo courtesy of the Office of the President Palau.

Palau is expected to receive a new patrol boat from Australia in June 2020 to replace PSS H.I. Remeliik.

In a press conference on October 2, President Tommy Remengesau Jr. announced that the PSS H.I. Remellik will be taken out of commission by February 2020 with the new boat coming in by June which will be named PSS Remeliik II.

Remengesau announced the replacement after showing the media a replica of the new boat.

A replica of the new patrol boat from Australia. Photo: Rhealyn Pojas

PSS Remeliik was donated by Australia 24 years ago and the new patrol boat will have a length of 139 feet, which is 35 ft longer than the 104 feet Remeliik.

The new boat can also take a crew of up to 25.

In February next year, PSS Remeliik will bid its goodbye to Palau to travel  to Australia.

The new patrol boat is estimated to cost around $20 million.

The new patrol vessel will join Japan donated PSS Kedam and two smaller boats to conduct maritime surveillance in Palau’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

Before PSS Kedam, Palau only has one patrol boat- PSS H.I Remeliik.

In earlier statements, Remenegsau said Kedam and Remeliik will help patrol its ocean and assist tackling the challenge of illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing.

“We are one percent of land, and 99 percent ocean. And that means, we are indeed a large ocean state, and the ocean is everything to us. It is our food security, it is our economic security, it is our cultural and social security, for it is our way of life.”

Australia has been delivering patrol boats to other Pacific Island Countries. Other recipients include Tonga, the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Tuvalu, Kiribati, Samoa, Vanuatu, FSM, the Marshall Islands, and Cook Islands.

Australia is also complementing its patrol boat program with aerial surveillance service which is part of the    Australian Government Department of Defence’s $2 billion Pacific Maritime Security Program.

The program will be in conjunction with the Pacific Patrol Boat program.  Palau and FSM are among the 12 nations in the Pacific that are part of the program. The other nations are Papua New Guinea, Fiji,  Tonga, Solomon Islands, Cook Islands, Kiribati, Republic of the Marshall Islands,  Samoa, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.

Australia, US, Interpol team up for anti-IUU operation

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Republished from Undercurrent News, 6 September 2018

Australia has played host to an international team as part of a wide operation against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in the high seas of the Pacific Ocean, its Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) has said.

Over four weeks, AFMA hosted representatives from Australia’s Maritime Border Command; the New Zealand ministry for primary industries; the US Coast Guard; the French ministere des armées; and the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) as part of “operation Nasse”.

The participating nations, all members of the Quadrilateral Defence Coordination Group, worked together to coordinate at-sea inspections, aerial surveillance, and maritime intelligence sharing.

The operation successfully demonstrated Australia’s ability to coordinate aircraft and surface patrol boats from all four countries, to monitor fishing operations and target IUU fishing on the high seas.

34 fishing vessels inspected, with 27 suspected violations identified, which have been reported to the relevant flag states for action, said AFMA. The operation was focused on tuna, and violations of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission rules.

New Japan Patrol Boat boosts Palau fight against IUU

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Republished from Pacific Note, 14 February 2018

The additional patrol boat to Palau from Nippon and Sasakawa Foundation is being hailed as a boost in the fight against illegal fishing in the island-nation.

The new patrol boat, PSS Kedam also amplifies Palau’s national marine sanctuary law- a signature policy of the government that will ban commercial fishing in its 193,000 square miles of its exclusive economic zone by 2020.

The PSS Kedam is named after the Great Frigate Bird of Palau, a sea bird that is the largest bird found in Palau.

“Today is a proud day for Palau, a proud day for law enforcement and the grand responsibility of safeguarding our constitutional borders surrounded by vast oceans. Today is a proud day, for the fruits of friendship and partnership between public sector and the private sector,” Palau President Tommy Remenegsu Jr. said during the handover ceremony in Palau on Feb. 13.

The Nippon Foundation at a cost of over $30 million funds the new patrol boat Kedam .

The 40-meter patrol boat is also part of the grant assistance from the Nippon Foundation and the Sasakawa Peace Foundation on the 10-year $70 million assistance provided by the two foundations referred to as the Support to Enhance Coast Guard Capabilities and Promote Eco-conscious Tourism in Palau.

The Nippon Foundation also provided new berth and the administration building, while the Sasakawa Peace Foundation provided capacity training and salary for the crew for 10 years.

A signed memorandum of understanding in 2016 with Palau government stated that the Nippon Foundation will provide financial support to cover fuel and maintenance cost for the vessel until the end of Japanese fiscal year 2027, and for the boat until the end of Japanese fiscal year 2026.

The Sasakawa Peace Foundation will fund employment of crews to operate the medium-sized patrol vessel, including the training of those crews, which will be conducted by the Japanese partner organizations until the end of Japanese fiscal year 2027. Before PSS Kedam,

Palau only has one patrol boat- PSS H.I Remeliik, which is 31.5-meter (104ft). Remeliik is Palau’s first patrol board donated by the Australian government. PSS Remeliik is due to be replaced by Australia by 2020.

Remenegsau said Kedam and Remeliik will help patrol its ocean and assist tackling the challenge of illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing.

“We are one percent land, and 99 percent ocean. And that means, we are indeed a large ocean state, and ocean is everything to us. It is our food security, it is our economic security, it is our cultural and social security, for it is our way of life.”

“Unfortunately, we are visited by problems not of our own making, but of signs and mankind, one of them, being the challenging part of illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing. Today’s ceremony, activities and purpose will go a long way to assist Palau in tackling this important challenge,” he added. Palau has caught in their waters poachers from Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan.

Vice President and Minister of Justice Raynold Oilouch said the Nippon Foundation included in their donation  three smaller patrol boats; a high speed inflatable boat, a pick-up truck and satellite communication facilities.

“Palau now has one of the most state of the art surveillance and enforcement operations in the entire region, coupled with the latest technology and satellite surveillance and aircraft reconnaissance, Palau will now be able to effectively and efficiently monitor and enforce our exclusive economic zone against illegal fishing, drug and human trafficking, and increase our abilities for search and rescue for missing vessels and people,” Oilouch stated during the hand over ceremony.

Mitsuyuki Unno Executive Director of Nippon Foundation sin his remarks said the partnership with Palau is due to   a shared common concern to  protect the world’s oceans.

“For years, the Nippon Foundation has been working to make the world’s ocean sustainable. however, to address the diverse challenges that confront our oceans, there needs to be a new global ocean regime that transcends country borders, institutions, and specializations. and to pass on a bountiful ocean to future generations, we need to work together to develop a global vision for the next millennium,” Unno said.