Austal delivered the first Guardian-class patrol boat to the Australian Department of Defence and then, in a handover ceremony on Friday, November 30, presented the vessel to the Papua New Guinea Government.
Ted Diro is the first of 21 steel-hulled Guardian-class boats to be gifted to 12 Pacific Island Nations and Timor-Leste under the Commonwealths Pacific Maritime Security Program.
A second Guardian-class boat destined for Tuvalu was launched on Monday, November 26, while three additional vessels are in various stages of construction.
