CIPPB Te Kukupa
CIPPB "Te Kukupa" is a , built by Australia and operated by the Cook Islands. Background. When the United Nations Convention on the Laws of the Seas established that all maritime nations exclusive economic zones extended from their shores, Australia designed and built 22 patrol vessels that it then gave to 12 of its neighbours in the Pacific Forum, so they could exercise sovereignty over their zones, from their own resources. Australia provided just one vessel to the Cook Islands, and will be providing it with a larger and more capable replacement, from the . The replacement is scheduled  to be delivered in 2022. Design. Australia designed these vessels using commercial off-the-shelf equipment, rather than high performance military grade equipment to help ease the maintenance burden of maintaining the vessels in small, remote shipyards. "Te Kukupa" displaces 160 tons, and is designed to allow its crew to remain at sea for missions of up to ten days. Operational history. "Te Kukupa" was delivered in 1989. In 1995 it escorted the vaka "Te Au o Tonga" to Moruroa to protest against French nuclear testing. In January 2012 "Te Kukupa" went to the rescue of the yacht "Bonny", only  to find it empty, with its lone crew-member missing. It later emerged that the yacht had been stolen by a man facing child sex charges. A member of the Cook Islands Police was later convicted of stealing $9,000 from the yacht. The vessel underwent a major refit in Australia in 2015. On November 3, 2017, "Te Kukupa" rescued the owner of the yacht , whose engines had failed several days earlier. Replacement. Australia started building a class of replacements for the original Pacific Forum patrol vessels, in 2017. "Te Kukupa" replacement will be named CIPPB "Te Kukupa II". "Te  Kukupa" left on her final voyage to Australia on 25 February 2022.