The new patrol boat travelled from Australia after it was officially handed over to the Palau government on Sept. 18, 2020.
The PSS President H.I Remeliik II is replacing its namesake predecessor, a Pacific-class patrol boat that had been in service in Palau since 1996.
According to Palau’s Ministry of Health, the new boat’s crew members tested negative for Covid-19 prior to departure to Palau. The crew members, however, will remain on the boat which is anchored near the Marine Law Dock.
Victor Remengesau, director of the Bureau of Marine Law Enforcement/Fish and Wildlife Protection, said the crew members will be tested twice during their quarantine period here.
The crew includes 19 Palauan law enforcers, who left Palau in September to undergo training in Australia, and two members of the Australian navy.
PSS President H.I. Remeliik II is the seventh Guardian-class patrol boat delivered by Australia under the Pacific Patrol Boat Replacement Project.
The 39.5-meter steel monohull boat was designed and constructed by Austal, an Australian global ship building company.
Also receiving sea vessels from Australia are Papua New Guinea, Fiji, the Federated States of Micronesia, Tonga, Solomon Islands, Cook Islands, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Samoa, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Timor Leste.
