With a diplomatic relationship spanning half a century, Australia and Samoa share many
things – among them a passion for rugby, strong personal connections, and shared priorities
and challenges as members of the Pacific family.
Those priorities include planning and preparations to ensure Samoa is well equipped for the
upcoming high risk weather season.
The arrival of Australia’s Pacific Support Vessel, ADV Reliant, into Apia last week, was a
chance for stakeholders from both nations to discuss how the capability can best support
Samoa, and the Pacific region, in times of crisis and Australian Deputy High Commissioner,
Barry Patterson, said it was a valuable opportunity.
“The last three years have been challenging, globally, and the resilience of the Samoan
people, the strength they have within their communities and the way they've pulled
together in a crisis has been incredibly impressive,” Mr Patterson said.
“As members of the Pacific family, we work together to address challenges in areas such as
climate change, the environment, economic security and human development. We also
work collaboratively on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief activities.
“The use of Reliant will be guided by the Samoan Government's priorities and we look
forward to working with them over the coming weeks to identify how we can best use
Reliant, including in their preparedness for disaster response and humanitarian assistance
as it's required.”
During the port visit, Reliant’s crew conducted ship tours for Samoan stakeholders, including
members of the Ministry of Prime Minister and Cabinet, Samoa Police Service, Ministry of
Foreign Affairs and Trade, Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment and the
Ministry of Health, showcasing the vessel’s key capabilities.
Royal Australian Navy Marine Technician, Able Seaman Angus McDonough, assisted with the
tours and said they encompassed everything from the mess facilities to the ship’s
freshwater capabilities and landing craft.
“We showed them the two landing craft we have, the T4 and T5 – they have the capability
to carry 4.5 tonnes of stores, or a fully loaded Land Cruiser and trailer, which we can land on
a beach and use to transport up to 36 personnel” AB McDonough said.
“Reliant can store 850 cubes of fresh water, so if we go somewhere that hasn't got fresh
water, we're able to supply them for quite a long time.”
Reliant will boost Australia’s contributions to regionally led responses, and is one element of
Australia’s broader contributions to regional partners’ requests for assistance – such as
standing amphibious ship readiness and air-support.
AB McDonough thinks Reliant’s visit to Samoa was a successful one.
“The local officials were looking forward to seeing what the capabilities of ADV Reliant were,
and I think they were quietly confident that we could assist with whatever they required of
us.”