Pacific Island News

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese met his Papua New Guinea counterpart James Marape in the capital of the largest Pacific Island nation on Wednesday for defense talks after plans to sign a landmark mutual defense treaty stalled.The two leaders instead signed a defense communique.Marape told reporters it was in the two countries' mutual interest to work side by side on defense."I made a conscious choice that Australia remains our security partner of choice," he said, adding Papua New Guinea could not defend its land and ocean space alone…

Australia plans to significantly boost surveillance of Pacific Islands territorial waters, spending A$477 million ($310.72 million) on aerial patrols for illegal fishing fleets, tender documents viewed by Reuters show, as China takes steps towards sending its coast guard to the region.Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will visit Fiji on Friday, the Fiji Times newspaper reported, after the government of Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka last week approved a maritime security…

French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday (June 10) met with leaders of Pacific island nations on the sidelines of a United Nations ocean conference in the southern French city of Nice.Macron discussed the impacts of climate change to the Oceania nations, one of the regions most prone to rising sea levels, and said Paris "will use its diplomacy in close link with our common interests in the Pacific."France possesses overseas territories in the Pacific, which includes New Caledonia, French Polynesia and Wallis and Futuna.The meeting comes as delegates are meeting for the U.N.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi pledged increased support from the world's second-largest economy to Pacific Island countries in addressing climate change, during a summit China's Xiamen on Wednesday, according to a ministry readout.The world's biggest bilateral lender will undertake 100 "small but beautiful" projects across Pacific Island countries with China ties over the next three years, Wang said, referring to one of the guiding principles of Chinese President Xi Jinping's…

A U.S. Coast Guard cutter crossing the Tasman Sea as part of maritime security cooperation with Australia and New Zealand knew Chinese naval ships were in the area but had no interaction with them, its commanding officer said on Tuesday.China's navy held live-fire exercises on Friday and Saturday in international waters between Australia and New Zealand that Australian officials have described as unprecedented. The drills forced airlines to change the paths of 49 commercial flights for safety reasons.The movements of the People's Liberation Army Navy frigate…

The IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) held its 82nd session from September 30 to October 4, 2024, with outcomes including the adoption of the Canadian Arctic and the Norwegian Sea as NOx, SOx and PM Emission Control Areas.The relevant MARPOL amendments will enter into force on March 1, 2026.DNV reports that for the Canadian Arctic:• The 0.10% fuel sulphur content requirement takes effect from March 1, 2027.• Tier III NOx requirements will apply to ships constructed (keel-laid) on or after 1 January 2025…

Australian shipbuilding group Austal announced it has delivered the seventh of 10 Evolved Cape-class Patrol Boats (ECCPB’s) it is building under contract to the Royal Australian Navy.Officially handed over at Austal’s Henderson, Western Australia shipyard, ADV Cape Solander is the first of two Evolved Cape-class Patrol Boats scheduled for delivery to the Royal Australian Navy in CY2024.“The Austal Australia team are continuing to demonstrate outstanding capability, productivity and efficiency with the Evolved Cape-class Patrol Boat Project…

Salvors have recovered Fiji's naval patrol boat RFNS Puamau, three weeks after the brand new vessel went aground on its maiden patrol.The vessel was successfully recovered from the reef at Fulaga and towed to the safe waters of Ogea Island where a thorough damage assessment will be conducted, the Republic of Fiji Navy said.RFNS Puamau is a Guardian-class Patrol Boat (GCPB) built by Austal for the Australian Department of Defence, which gifted the vessel to Fiji's Navy.Just months after the vessel's official handover in March…

Australian shipbuilder Austal announced that the Australian Government has ordered two additional Guardian-class Patrol Boats from Austal Australia, valued at approximately A$39 million.The 39.5-meter, steel-hull patrol boats, to be constructed at Henderson in Western Australia and scheduled for delivery in 2026, are in addition to the 22 Guardian-class Patrol Boats previously ordered by the Australian Government under the Pacific Patrol Boat Replacement Project (SEA3036-1) since…

Responders are working to salvage Fiji's brand new naval patrol boat, which ran aground during its maiden voyage last week.The vessel, RFNS Puamau, is a Guardian-class Patrol Boat (GCPB) built by Austal for the Australian Department of Defence, which gifted the vessel to the Republic of Fiji Navy.Just months after the vessel's official handover in March, it hit a reef on Fiji's remote Lau group of islands on June 10, during its first patrol.Now salvors are working to recover the stricken vessel while minimizing environmental impacts, including a potential oil spill.

A global maritime court found on Tuesday that greenhouse gases constitute marine pollution, a major breakthrough for small island states threatened by the rise in sea levels caused by global warming.In its first climate-related judgment, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea said emissions from fossil fuels and other planet-warming gases that are absorbed by the oceans count as marine pollution.Its ruling - an "advisory opinion" that should nevertheless provide a precedent…

The U.S. Coast Guard has rejected comments by a Chinese diplomat that its recent boardings of Chinese fishing boats in the Pacific Islands alongside local police are illegal, saying the joint patrols are at the behest of Pacific nations to protect coastal fisheries.Reuters reported last month that six Chinese fishing boats were found to be violating Vanuatu's fisheries law after being inspected by local police who were on board the first U.S. Coast Guard boat to patrol the waters of the Pacific Islands nation.China's Ambassador to New Zealand Wang Xiaolong…

New Zealand said on Monday it will dispatch defense personnel, helicopters and a naval ship to the Solomon Islands to assist in a national election due next month, where relations with China will be a key issue.The deployment is part of a NZ$10.8 million ($6.48 million) support program for the Solomon Islands Electoral Commission announced in January and that will help transport election officers and materials around Pacific Island nations.New Zealand's foreign ministry said the vessel HMNZS Canterbury will leave Auckland on Tuesday to transport two helicopters and crew…

The IMO will open its seventh Regional Presence Office (RPO), in Suva, Fiji, after IMO Secretary-General, Arsenio Dominguez, and Fiji Minister for Transport, Ro Filipe Tuisawau, signed a Memorandum of Understanding on March 18.The Regional Presence Office will support the maritime needs and priorities of countries in the Pacific Islands region, aligning IMO actions with national and regional development policies, while providing advice on key maritime issues such as training, safety and security, legislation and marine environment.

The European Union, Canada, Japan and climate-vulnerable Pacific Island states are among 47 countries rallying support for a charge on the international shipping sector's greenhouse gas emissions, documents reviewed by Reuters showed.The documents, being discussed at an International Maritime Organization (IMO) meeting now entering a second week, outline four proposals with a combined 47 backers for imposing a fee on each tonne of greenhouse gas the industry produces.Support for…

Shipbuilding group Austal Limited announces that Austal Australia has been awarded a contract extension for the construction of two additional Evolved Cape-class Patrol Boats for the Royal Australian Navy.The A$157 million contract follows the procurement announcement made by the Commonwealth of Australia (CoA) on November 23, 2023 and brings the total number of Evolved Cape-class Patrol Boats being delivered to the Navy, under the SEA1445-1 Project, to ten.Austal Limited Chief…

On a windswept island 50 miles north of Seattle sits a U.S. Navy monitoring station. For years, it was kept busy tracking whale movements and measuring rising sea temperatures. Last October, the Navy gave the unit a new name that better reflects its current mission: Theater Undersea Surveillance Command.The renaming of the spy station at the Whidbey Island naval base is a nod to a much larger U.S. military project, according to three people with direct knowledge of the plans:…

The United States opened international aid offices in the Pacific Islands this week, bolstering support for the strategic region and pitting it more forcefully against China, which has been providing infrastructure loans to the area for years.The vast ocean region, pivotal in World War Two, is in the spotlight again amid tensions over Taiwan. Taiwanese officials this week said China, which claims the island as its territory, could launch military drills soon to intimidate voters ahead of an election next year.On Wednesday…

Canada's The Metals Company (TMC) aims to apply next year for a licence to start mining in the Pacific Ocean, with production expected to get underway by as early as the fourth quarter of 2025, it said in a statement.TMC has been at the forefront of efforts to begin extracting polymetallic nodules from the ocean floor, a nascent industry that could boost supplies of metals considered vital to the global energy transition, including nickel and cobalt.Environmental campaigners warn…

In the depths of the Pacific Ocean between Mexico and Hawaii, trillions of potato-shaped rocks are scattered across the seabed - containing minerals such as nickel, cobalt and manganese vital for new green technologies in the global energy transition.In this ocean region - the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ) - an abundance of the rocks, known as polymetallic nodules, is increasingly fuelling debate about the mining of metals needed to produce technology such as batteries for electric…

On Feb. 10 last year, the cable ship CS Dependable appeared off the coast of the island of Diego Garcia, an Indian Ocean atoll that’s home to a discreet U.S. naval base.Over the next month, the ship’s crew covertly laid an underwater fiber-optic cable to the military base, an operation code-named “Big Wave,” according to four people with direct knowledge of the mission, as well as a Reuters analysis of satellite imagery and ship tracking data.The new super-fast internet link to Diego Garcia, which has not previously been reported, will boost U.S. military readiness in the Indian Ocean, a region where China has expanded its naval influence over the last decade.The CS Dependable is owned by SubCom…

Maritime nations including Denmark and the Marshall Islands are rallying support for a global carbon dioxide emissions levy on shipping, with talks at a critical stage ahead of a U.N. agency meeting next month that could back the measure.The levy could provide funds to help countries cope with climate change and help curb emissions from shipping - a sector that transports about 90% of world trade and accounts for nearly 3% of global CO2 emissions, but whose international nature means it often avoids national CO2-cutting regulations.Member countries of the U.N.

South Korea-based Asia Shipbuilding recently held the keel laying ceremony for hull number ASB – 1245 of the Pacific Island Supply Vessel, an innovative sailing cargo ship for the needs of the Republic of the Marshall Islands.The consortium of Asia Shipbuilding Co., Ltd., and the naval design company Kostec Co., Ltd., last year signed a contract with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH to deliver an innovative sailing cargo ship for the needs…