The Royal Australian Navy survey ship HMAS Leeuwin has successfully concluded a five-week hydrographic survey deployment in the country.
The survey deployment is to support safer navigation, strengthening maritime cooperation, and enhancing defence ties between Australia and PNG.
Conducted from 13 July to 16 August 2026, the mission focused on surveying uncharted waters in Morobe Province. HMAS Leeuwin mapped coastal and offshore areas, conducted beach and littoral surveys, and collected tidal data to support the production of updated nautical charts.
The new charts will improve the safety of navigation for local communities, ferry operators, commercial shipping and visiting vessels, while supporting Papua New Guinea’s maritime sovereignty and economic development.
Commander Danny Finn, Commanding Officer of HMAS Leeuwin, said the mission continued a long history of Australian support for PNG’s hydrographic capability.
“We’ve had a very long relationship with Papua New Guinea and about 50 years’ worth of history surveying Papua New Guinean waters and it’s great to come back to help improve the charting quality here for the safety of PNG personnel and also for ships transiting through,” he said.
“Deployments like this deepen our partnerships with the PNG Defence Force and the local community.
“We have also been working with our Papua New Guinea Defence Force partners to upskill them in survey work while our PNGDF partners help our crew gain local insights.”
Lieutenant Samuel Bayagau of the PNGDF-ME said the deployment reflected the close partnership between PNG and Australia.
“We are here as equal partners in sharing our knowledge and our environment, Working with the Australians has been a worthwhile experience, strengthening ties that go back to World War II.”
“Working with HMAS Leeuwin has been a great experience and an honour to operate in our territorial seas,” he said.
“The relationship between PNG and Australia goes way back, but now we created our first alliance with the Pukpuk Treaty, and this has strengthened our ties.”
The deployment also included personnel from the Papua New Guinea Defence Force Maritime Element (PNGDF-ME), who gained mentoring and practical training in hydrographic survey techniques while contributing local knowledge to survey operations.
Community engagements conducted during the deployment further strengthened people-to-people links, reinforcing the alliance between PNG and Australia and supporting a secure and prosperous Pacific region.
