Royal Australian Navy minehunters HMAS Huon and Diamantina made a brief stopover in Suva, Fiji on their way back from a month-long deployment to the Solomon Islands.
The stopover provided an opportunity to strengthen understanding and cooperation between the Royal Australian Navy and Republic of Fiji Military Forces (RFMF) defence forces.
About fifty RFMF personnel toured onboard the two Australian naval vessels as they were shown around by members of the crew on the various workstations manned onboard the vessels and given a brief of the different roles they played or carried out at sea.
On their arrival last Friday, the RFMF Band welcomed HMAS Huon and HMAS Diamantina to Fiji. As part of the visit, the ships’ crew worked alongside an RFMF team to conduct repair and maintenance works at the Saint Christopher’s Orphanage.
Prior to visiting Fiji, the minehunters were part of operation Render Safe which resulted in over ten tonnes of WWII munitions being destroyed in the Solomon Islands.