Samoan boat in stand-off
A SAMOAN Navy patrol boat badly damaged after hitting a Pacific Ocean reef remains high and dry at a Portsmith shipyard amid an international stalemate about who is going to pick up a multimillion-dollar repair bill.
Guardian-class patrol boat the Nafanua II limped up Trinity Inlet in October on the back of a ship-carrying barge towed by the tug PT Monto.
She was hauled out of the water and chocked at Norship
Marine’s shipyard before Gaffer tape and plastic was used to cover the ship’s identification numbers.
Employees have been sworn to secrecy, according to sources inside the shipyard, and it is understood one worker has been sacked for disclosing information about Nafanua II.
Andrew Wagner, the business development manager at Tropical Reef Shipyard, was limited in what he could say but confirmed the ship’s location.
“It’s in Norship’s yard,” Mr Wagner said.
“There is a lot of work that has to be done to it and it comes back to the governments to decide what to do with it.”
The Samoan-flagged ship was donated by the Australian government in 2019 through the $2bn Pacific Maritime Security Program after being built in Western Australia.
The 40m vessel is the Pacific nation’s only patrol boat.
A Defence spokesman said Samoan authorities had been provided with a damage assessment report but would not be drawn on whether the Aussie taxpayer would contribute to the repair bill.
“Australia values its security partnership with Samoa, and is committed to continuing to support our partner to respond to this incident,” he said.
“Defence is not in a position to provide further detail at this time.”
At the request of the Samoan government, Australia hired Pacific Tug to salvage the Nafanua II, after it ran aground off Savai’i Island on August 5.
Following successful salvage and tow operations, the Nafanua II arrived in Cairns on October 6.
Portsmith-based firm Austal Australia, overseeing locally contracted teams to maintain the Guardian-class fleet, would be best placed to take on repair work needed by the Nafanua II; however, the company declined to comment.
Norship Marine when contacted by the Cairns Post also refused to comment on the ship in its yard.
It’s unclear what caused the running aground incident in September but an investigation into the grounding of the vessel has begun.