Te Mataili III , which was accepted by the Australian government and then gifted to Tuvalu at handover ceremonies in Western Australia on 16 October 2024. (Austal)
Tuvalu has received another Guardian-class patrol vessel to replace a similar boat that was damaged by twin cyclones in 2023.
Handover ceremonies for the vessel, which has been named Te Mataili III , was held on 16 October at HMAS Stirling in Western Australia.
The vessel was delivered by Austal to the Australian government as the 21st Guardian-class patrol vessel, and it was in turn handed over to Prime Minister of Tuvalu Feleti Teo at the same occasion.
It replaces HMTSS Te Mataili II , which was gifted to Tuvalu in 2019 and operated by the Maritime Wing of the Tuvalu Police Service until it was damaged by the twin cyclones that hit Vanuatu in March 2023.
Te Mataili II was in Vanuatu when the cyclones hit and was subsequently declared to be damaged beyond economic repair.
Austal first received a contract to construct Guardian-class patrol vessels for 12 Pacific Island countries and Timor-Leste under Canberra's SEA3036-1 programme in May 2016.
Subsequently, the shipbuilder received orders for additional vessels under contract options exercised in April 2018 and October 2022 respectively.
In June 2024, Austal received another order worth AUD39 million (USD26 million) for two more Guardian-class patrol vessels.
As such, the Guardian-class project now comprises a total of 24 patrol boats with a total contract value of approximately AUD400 million.
Besides Tuvalu, countries that have taken delivery of these vessels include Fiji, Kiribati, the Solomon Islands, and Papua New Guinea.
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