OPV ''Nemesis'' is an

offshore patrol vessel A patrol boat (also referred to as a patrol craft, patrol ship, or patrol vessel) is a relatively small naval ship, naval vessel generally designed for Coastal defence and fortification, coastal defence, Border control, border security, or law ...

of the

New South Wales Police Force The New South Wales Police Force (NSW Police Force; previously the New South Wales Police Service and New South Wales Police) is the primary law enforcement agency of the state of New South Wales, Australia. Divided into Police Area Commands (P ...

. It was acquired in 2008 to replace two older 22-metre vessels. It is designed to support a range of police operations up to out to sea, including detecting

illegal immigration Illegal immigration is the migration of people into a country in violation of the immigration laws of that country or the continued residence without the legal right to live in that country. Illegal immigration tends to be financially upwar ...

smuggling Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations. There are various ...

and

drug trafficking A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via insuffla ...

and supporting

counter terrorism Counterterrorism (also spelled counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, incorporates the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that Government, governments, law enforcement, business, and Intelligence agency, intellig ...

and

search and rescue Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...

. The design specifications for the ship were drawn in 2005, taking into account lessons from the

Pong Su incident The ''Pong Su'' incident began on 16 April 2003 when heroin was smuggled from the ''Pong Su'', a North Korean cargo ship, onto an Australian beach. Australian military special forces subsequently boarded the ''Pong Su'' in Australian territori ...

. ''Nemesis'' was built by

Tenix Defence Tenix Defence was Australia's largest defence contractor with core capabilities in Aerospace, Land, Marine and Electronic Systems applications. BAE Systems announced its intention to acquire the company from Tenix in January 2008 and the acquisitio ...

Henderson, Western Australia Henderson is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located within the City of Cockburn. History The suburb of Henderson comprises land resumed by the Commonwealth Government in 1915 for defence purposes. A large naval base was planned by Admira ...

based on the ships built by Tenix for the

Philippine Coast Guard The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) ( fil, Tanod Baybayin ng Pilipinas) is recognized as the third armed uniformed service of the country attached to the Philippines' Department of Transportation, tasked primarily with enforcing laws within P ...

. At the time of its construction, ''Nemesis'' was the largest purpose-built police boat in the Southern Hemisphere.Police Marine Power

Caterpillar Energy Solutions Caterpillar Energy Solutions GmbH, is a mechanical engineering company based in Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It was known as MWM GmbH Motoren-Werke Mannheim (MWM) until November 2013. In 2009 the company was the third-largest producer ...

As well as policing duties it is able to assist operations of the

Australian Fisheries Management Authority The Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) is the Australian Government agency responsible for the management and sustainable use of fisheries resources including combating illegal fishing activities in the Australian Fishing Zone that c ...

and the

Australian Customs and Border Protection Service The Australian Customs and Border Protection Service was an Australian federal government agency responsible for managing the security and integrity of the Australian border and facilitating the movement of legitimate international travelers and g ...

. Standard police issue firearms are carried on board and the vessel itself has provision for fitting mounted weapons in the future. ''Nemesis'' was part of the support patrol for the

2009 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race The 2009 Rolex Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, hosted by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia in Sydney, New South Wales, was the 65th annual running of the "blue water classic" Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race. It began at Sydney Harbour at 1:00p ...

. In 2010, the NSW Police was criticised for only operating the ship for 403 hours in 2009. Deployments were subsequently increased to 80 hours per month.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nemesis 2008 ships New South Wales Police Force Patrol vessels of Australia Ships built in Western Australia