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| Armidale class (Wiki Info) |
CANBERRA, Australia, July 5 (UPI) -- Nine of Australia's 14 Armidale-class patrol boats based in Darwin are not operational, Minister for Defense Materiel Jason Clare said.
The boats out of use are undergoing maintenance, Northern Territory News reported.
Clare said the boats have been working "very, very hard" patrolling coastal waters, including the intercepting of several asylum seeker boats in recent weeks.
The boats are "under pressure (due to) the enormous amount of work these vessels have been asked to do," Clare said.
Clare met Defense Maritime Services, the Ministry of Defense's private sector partner that is providing maintenance for the patrol boats, in Darwin this week to discuss what the fleet requires and what is planned for the future, NT News said.
Read the full story at UPI