Australian Navy Boarding Officers Ready for Maritime Patrols

Seven Senior Sailors and Officers in the Royal Australian Navy are ready to set sail after completing Boarding Operations training in Darwin.

The Domestic Maritime Security Operations Course (DMSOC) and Boarding Officers Course (DMBOC) were conducted back-to-back over a nine-day period at the Larrakeyah Barracks in Darwin and waters adjacent patrol boat base, HMAS Coonawarra.

Chief Petty Officer Phil Durnan said the nine-day course prepared Navy members with the necessary skills and experience to lead a Boarding Party in domestic maritime security operations.

“The course is very dynamic with lots of expertise brought in from Defence and Other Government Agency specialists such as Customs and Border Protection and the Australian Fisheries Management Authority,” he said.

“The prospective Boarding Officers are put through their paces with theory, followed by complex practical exercises and assessment”.

“They have all left here with the necessary skills, knowledge and importantly, attitude to effectively lead a Navy boarding party in carrying out Australia’s maritime security tasks.”

All seven participants will now be deployed in Armidale Class Patrol Boats conducting maritime patrols as part of Operation RESOLUTE, the ADF contribution to Australia’s whole of government maritime boarder security.

Armidale Class Patrol Boats conduct operations against eight distinct maritime security threats including terrorism, people smuggling, illegal fishing, prohibited imports and exports quarantine risks, pollution and piracy while assigned to Joint Task Force 639 based at the Headquarters Northern Command in Darwin.

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Naval Today Staff, March 15, 2013; Image: RAN