New patrol boat and more aircraft for northern Australia
Border and environmental protection, combating illegal foreign fishing and the fight against people smuggling in northern Australia have been strengthened with more aircraft and a new patrol vessel.
A 35-metre vessel, ACS Ashmore Guardian, capable of carrying up to 10 Customs officers and government officials, has joined the Australian Customs Service fleet and will be responsible for patrolling the Ashmore and Cartier Reef areas of north-westerm Australia.
The area is included in the 2.5 million square kilometres of offshore area which the UN recently gave the green light to Australia to incorporate into its seabed territory.
The vessel joins an upgraded fleet of 10 bigger and better-equipped surveillance aircraft operating under charter to Customs to protect northern waters. The last of the aircraft to be delivered under a $1 billion contract came into service in April.
The Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts, Peter Garrett, said surveillance in the remote north-west would be boosted with the Ashmore Guardian set to become a permanent presence in the area.
Home Affairs Minister, Bob Debus, said the ACS Ashmore Guardian was a specially modified commercial fleet support ship which ushered in a new era in surveillance and enforcement in the north-west.
“It will give Customs the ability to conduct operations on a near continuous basis at the Ashmore Reef and Cartier Island Marine Reserves,” Mr Debus said.
The reserves are internationally significant coral ecosystems which the Government says are threatened by illegal fishing.
"Turtles, dugongs, sharks and seabirds use these reserves for feeding and breeding and the presence of the Ashmore Guardian in the area will be an excellent deterrent against illegal fishing,” Mr Garrett, said.
“We know that illegal fishing for turtles, shark fins, sea cucumbers, trochus and giant clam shells has occurred in the area. The Ashmore Guardian will be a permanent reminder of the Australian Government's determination to protect this remarkable environment.”
The Ashmore Guardian will enhance surveillance and enforcement activities undertaken by Customs and Australian Defence Force aircraft and patrol boats which are coordinated by the Border Protection Command.
The two marine reserves, covering an area of 750 square kilometres are about 320 km off the Australian coast but only 150 km south of the Indonesian Island of Roti.
Traditional Indonesian fishermen are allowed to fish in the area under a Memorandum of Understanding between Australia and Indonesia. Only limited fishing for personal use is allowed within a small area of Ashmore Reserve.
In April, Mr Debus formally accepted the last aircraft to be delivered by Adelaide-based Cobham Australia to Border Protection Command (BPC) under a $1billion, 12-year service delivery contract.
Known as Project Sentinel, the program provides civil maritime surveillance services to the Border Protection Command until 2020. Customs signed the contract with Surveillance Australia, a Cobham subsidiary, in March 2006.
“Coastwatch aircraft fly more than 2400 missions each year covering around 160 million square nautical miles on patrol for illegal fishing, people, drug and weapons smugglers and quarantine and environmental threats,” Mr Debus said.
Under Project Sentinel, Surveillance Australia has delivered brand new maritime surveillance aircraft and refurbished and upgraded existing aircraft in the Coastwatch fleet. The fleet now consists of 10 all-electronic Dash 8 aircraft.
Three of the aircraft are new, larger Dash 8 300 series aircraft.
“Long-range fuel tanks installed in these aircraft will allow longer surveillance missions within the Australian maritime zone,” Mr Debus said.
Two aircraft previously used by National Jet, also part of the Cobham Group, have been upgraded for maritime surveillance tasks and have joined the Coastwatch fleet.
“Surveillance Australia has also successfully refurbished five aircraft used under the previous contract. These aircraft are now even more capable and will ensure BPC has the latest technology available to protect Australia's borders,” Mr Debus said.
All the aircraft were fitted with highly specialised surveillance and communications sensors and systems, including electro-optical and infrared imaging sensors and enhanced radar technology.
Mr Debus said future modifications to the aircraft would also be carried out by Cobham in Adelaide.
“Over the next two years this facility will upgrade the Surveillance Information Management (SIM) system for all ten aircraft, ensuring they are well placed to help protect Australia right through the next 12 years,” he said.