In his capacity as leader of the Police Service, Governor Sir John Vereker toured the vessel and said, ‘Maintaining law and order on the sea is just as important as law and order on the land. This vessel is taking maintenance of law and order to a new level.’

‘Guardian’ is an all aluminium monohull that features all the design upgrades included in the current New South Wales Police Boat fleet that replace the previous seven 16m police boats delivery by Austal in 2000. The boat has a beam of 4.87m and a draft of 1.25m. Guardian is powered by twin Caterpillar C12 marine diesels rated at 492 kW each and driving through Twin Disc Quickshift MGX 5114A gearboxes for a top speed of 28 knots, a cruising speed of 20 knots and a 400 nautical mile range. The vessel is designed to operate up to 200 nautical miles offshore and comes with an array of communication and navigation equipment to compliment the role and capabilities.

After arriving at the island, sea trials and familiarisation exercises were held in local waters for the Police Marine Unit. The vessel will be based in Hamilton for general patrol, search & rescue, dive operations and general assistance to Police units and governmental agencies.