TWO uncrewed surface vessels, each worth about $2million, have been officially deployed to Fiji marking a historic milestone in Pacific maritime cooperation between Fiji and New Zealand.
The solar-wind-and wave-powered 7.4-metre vessels are designed for long-endurance missions without fuel or onboard crew.
They will support tasks such as fisheries protection, water monitoring, and gathering meteorological data.
“This provides the ability for these to undertake a wide variety of roles, such as fisheries protection, water protection and providing meteorological data,” Defence Minister Pio Tikoduadua said during the deployment ceremony at the Maritime Essential Services Centre (MESC) in Lami.
“The use of this technology is incredibly valuable to Fiji and to New Zealand, both countries with large exclusive economic zones that we need to safeguard.
“And I would like to extend a sincere thanks to New Zealand for the deployment of these vessels into Fiji.”
Mr Tikoduadua described the moment as “historic.”
“To both the New Zealand and Fiji navies, enjoy this moment, for it is historic. This stands as the first time an uncrewed vessel has been sent to Fiji from a partner and come under our tasking.
“This stands as a continued testament to the close cooperation between our forces and our joint willingness to adapt to a changing security environment.”
He said the new platforms were a timely response to long-standing visibility and resource constraints in Fiji’s maritime zone.
“The Fiji Navy, among its duties, is tasked with looking after Fiji’s security, particularly in our maritime zone.
“So, one of its biggest challenges is to be able to dominate this place effectively, so visibility is a very important issue.”
He said the uncrewed, sustainable vessels would help address those gaps.
“Now the presence of these kinds of vessels, unmanned, unfuelled, uses solar and all of that, addresses a lot of these issues where you are able to dominate the space that the Navy needs to look at without having to deploy additional resources of platforms and also people.”
