What’s Wrong With Pacific Shipping? From Patrol Boats to Pirate Flags
From wrecked patrol boats to phantom flags and million-dollar salvage bills - the Pacific’s maritime sector is taking on water fast.”
The Shipping News: Vanuatu’s wrecked patrol boat, a criminal ship flag registry on a deserted Pacific Island and the cost of moving a wreck from Sāmoa
Sinking Without a Fight: How Australia’s Pacific Patrol Fleet Is Running Aground
It’s getting harder to avoid the conclusion that Australia’s multi-million-dollar Guardian-class patrol boat programme is quietly torpedoing itself.
In Latin terms, the Pacific crews have already decimated their fleet - three of 21 Guardian-class vessels wrecked without a single shot fired in anger. Whether that’s due to design flaws or to Pacific politicians at the helm treating them like luxury yachts is still unclear.
In this shipping news blog:
A pirate flag island in the South Pacific
Cost of removing a sunken navy ship in Sāmoa
The latest casualty is Vanuatu’s RVS Takuare, which on October 5 ran aground on a reef off Tomali Village, South Epi Island. The vessel was already infamous for earlier mishaps, but this time the political fingerprints are unmistakable. Video shows Takuare being used as VIP transport for Internal Affairs Minister Andrew Napuat — complete with motorbikes strapped to the deck for escort riders.
No formal explanation for the grounding has been given; the less extreme social media suggests poor anchoring and navigation skills and the crew leaving the vessel unattended for social events.
Built by Austal in Western Australia, the 24-strong Guardian-class fleet is part of Canberra’s A$2.1 billion Pacific Maritime Security Programme.
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