West Australian shipbuilder Austal and the Australian government have signed a deal to build up to 21 new patrol boats which will be donated to Pacific countries.
The defence minister Marise Payne said the contract was worth US$209 million dollars, with work to start mid-2017 and the first vessel to be delivered in late 2018.
She says the existing fleet is to be replaced with a fleet of new vessels to assist Australia's Pacific Island partners in monitoring their extensive exclusive economic zones.