RKS Teanoai

RKS Teanoai, during a joint exercise, on November 7, 2019
History
Kiribati
Name	Teanoai
Operator	Kiribati
Launched	1994
Commissioned	January 1994
Identification	Call sign: T3GP[1]
Status	Ship in active service
General characteristics
Class and type	Pacific Forum-class patrol boat
Displacement	162 tons
Length	103 ft (31 m)

RKS Teanoai (301) was a Pacific Forum-class patrol boat operated by the Republic of Kiribati Police. Teanoai was one of twenty-two small patrol vessels Australia designed and built for smaller fellow members of the Pacific Forum, after the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea extended control of a 200-kilometre (108 nmi) exclusive economic zone for all maritime nations.[2][3]

Teanoai was replaced by the larger and more capable Guardian-class patrol vessel Teanoai II in May 2021, and decommissioned thereafter.[4]

Operational history

In 2006 Teanoai worked with the Greenpeace ship Esperanza on fishery patrol.[5]

In February 2018 Teanoai and RMIS Lomor performed open ocean exercises and a joint patrol of their waters.[6] On November 7, 2019, Teanoai rendezvoused with USCGC Stratton.[7] The vessels' crews engaged in boarding exercises, with Stratton's pursuit boat, and her on-board helicopter both being used.

References

1. Glenn Hurry; Mbwenea Teloki (2014-03-19). "Advice from the Government of Kiribati of a New Vessel to be Included on the Register of Authorised Inspection Vessels". Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission. Retrieved 2019-11-24. Further to Article 26 of the Convention and in accordance to CMM2006-08 procedures and requirement. Kiribati government hereby wishes to notify the Commission and its members that RKSTeanoai will be registered to participate and to carry out High Sea Boarding and Inspection with particular interest to high seas adjacent to Kiribati three EEZie Gilbert, Phoenix and line Islands.
2. Jordan Vinson (2 March 2017). "Meet Royal Australian Navy Lt. Commander Mat O'Loughlin and Chief Petty Officer Michael Grant" (PDF). The Kwajelien Hourglass. p. 2. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2018-08-09. Retrieved 2020-04-26. Australia has gifted 22 patrol boats and one landing craft to 12 different Pacific island countries. RMI has one.
3. Dave Morley (2015-12-03). "Lifelines across Pacific" (PDF). Navy News. Vol. 58, no. 23. p. 8. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2018-08-14. Retrieved 2018-08-12. The program involves 22 Australian-gifted patrol boats to 12 Pacific island countries, the majority of which are operated by police services.
4. Arun Mathew (2020-04-24). "Austal Launches 8th Guardian-Class Patrol Boat". Defpost. Archived from the original on 2020-04-26. The vessel is to be delivered to Kiribati under the Australian Government's Pacific Maritime Security Program. The boat, to be named RKS Teanoai II (301), will replace the Republic of Kiribati Police's Pacific Forum-class patrol boat, RKS Teanoai (301).
5. "PLUNDERING THE PACIFIC: Summary of findings of Greenpeace joint enforcement exercises with FSM and Kiribati, September 4th – October 23rd 2006". Greenpeace. Archived from the original on 2020-04-26. Greenpeace and fisheries authorities from Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) and Kiribati have, over the course of seven weeks, undertaken joint surveillance and enforcement exercises in the Pacific. The work included patrolling the exclusive economic zones (EEZ) of both nations, and boarding and inspecting fishing vessels found in these areas. The collaboration has exposed some key findings about the nature of illegal, unreported and unregulated IUU fishing in the Pacific.
6. Hilary Hosia (16 February 2018). "Kiribati, RMI joint sea patrol". The Marshall Islands Journal. Archived from the original on 9 August 2018. Patrol vessels Teanoai from the Republic of Kiribati and Lomor from Marshall Islands conducted joint operations and open ocean exercises last week following Teanoai's arrival in Majuro Thursday.
7. "U.S., Kiribati conducts joint training at sea in Pacific on USCGC Stratton's return to U.S." US Embassy, Fiji. Suva, Fiji. 2019-11-18. Archived from the original on 2020-04-26. Retrieved 2019-11-24. The two ship's crews rendezvoused at sea. The Stratton conducted maneuvers with the Teanoai crew, to include the launch and maneuvering of a Stratton small-boat alongside the 103-foot Teanoai in 5 to 6-foot seas with 4 foot swells. Stratton's embarked MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew was launched from the cutter and conducted an overflight of the vessels to demonstrated hoist operations.