The lone patrol boat of Palau is up for a ‘law of extension’, said Paul Kenny, Chief Petty Officer of Royal Australian Navy and Acting Maritime Surveillance Adviser for Palau, during a meeting among the commanding officers of Marine Law Enforcement (MLE) held on Wednesday.
“At the end of the year, the boat is due for a law of extension, meaning it will be upgraded according to Memorandum of Understanding between the governments of Palau and Australia.” In the agreement, there are certain years that the boat will undergo slips and half-life refits as part of the boat’s life extension program.
“That means more intense repair of the vessel. We need to replace some equipment onboard the boat with more modern technologies,” added Kenny.
Australia has provided 22 Pacific patrol boats to 12 countries in the Pacific, including Palau, as part of its support to these countries’ maritime surveillance capabilities. “Some nations like our neighbor the Federated States of Micronesia have three patrol boats,” said Ellender Ngirameketii, chief of MLE.
He added that the estimated cost of the upgrade will be more than $2 million. “But there are certain areas that Australia will not fund, so Palau will cover the expenses.”
Aside from the upgrades and repairs of the patrol boat, issues ranging from long-term and short-term projects and schedules, operations and trainings of officers in Australia were included in the agenda of the MLE officers’ first official meeting for 2010.
According to Kenny, two MLE officers, Rodney Wong and Jesse Rumong, are set to train in Tasmania early this year. Wong will train for Marine Technical Level 2 Course on Feb. 8 to May 3, while Rumong will train for the Junior Officers Course on Feb. 15 to June 7 this year.
Ngirameketii also said that part of the weekly officers’ meetings is to discuss whether there are any major sea stoppers that everybody needs to be aware of before they set sail. “If there’s any problem, we need to resolve it before we sail.” As for their next sail, “We haven’t finalized everything yet,” he said.
