RFNS ''Savenaca'' (401) is a , being built in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

for

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

. She will replace , a

Pacific Forum patrol vessel The Pacific class (also known as the Pacific Forum classToppan & Walsh, ''World Navies Today: Other Asia-Pacific Navies'' and the ASI 315 class) is a class of 22 patrol boats built by Australia and donated to twelve South Pacific countries. Th ...

provided by Australia in 1994. She will be the seventh vessel of the class to be completed, and the second of two to be delivered to Fiji. She will be commissioned in March or April of 2020.

Design

Australia provided 22 Pacific Forum patrol vessels to its smaller neighbours in the Pacific Forum after the

United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), also called the Law of the Sea Convention or the Law of the Sea Treaty, is an international agreement that establishes a legal framework for all marine and maritime activities. , 167 c ...

provided maritime nations with exclusive economic zone. Those vessels were delivered in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and were designed for a service life of approximately 30 years. Australia designed the Guardian class as a slightly larger and more capable replacement. Like the Pacific Forum vessels the Guardian-class vessels are built using commercial off the shelf components, to make it easier for the vessels to be maintained in small, isolated shipyards.

Operational career

''Savenaca'' was turned over to the Royal Fiji Naval Service, at Austal's Henderson factory, on March 6, 2020. Attending the handover ceremony were Voreqe Bainimarama, Prime Minister of Fiji, Inia Seruiratu, Minister of Defence, Melissa Price,

Minister for Defence Industry In the Government of Australia, the Minister for Defence Industry is currently the Hon Pat Conroy MP since 1 June 2022, following the Australian federal election in 2022. The Minister for Defence Industry, or previously the Minister of Supply ...

, and

Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

Viliame Naupoto and

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Humphrey Tawake Humphrey Tawake is a senior officer in the Republic of Fiji Naval Service. Tawake represented Fiji at the 2017 Global Coast Guard Summit, in Tokyo. Tawake lead the welcome back ceremony upon the return of RFNS ''Kikau'', from an extensive refi ...

, of the Fiji Navy. ''Savenaca'' arrived in Walu Bay on April 28, 2020, where she was greeted by Minister of Defence Inia Seruiratu. In May, 2020, ''Savenaca'' was dispatched with humanitarian aid to areas stricken with the Covid 19 virus. Australia had helped by flying in supplies, including a large portable generator.

Namesake

The vessel is named after Savenaca Naulumatua, a Fiji sailor who died serving aboard , during the

Battle of Kolombangara The Battle of Kolombangara (Japanese: コロンバンガラ島沖海戦) (also known as the Second Battle of Kula Gulf) was a naval battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, fought on the night of 12/13 July 1943, off the northeastern coas ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Savenaca Guardian class patrol vessels 2020 ships Ships of the Fijian Navy