Fiji launches its first maritime security strategy as Australia pledges Bluebottle sea drones

Fiji has launched its first national maritime security strategy, a plan running from 2026 to 2035, at a ceremony at the Novotel Suva Lami Bay this week. Australia used the launch to confirm that it will give Fiji Bluebottle uncrewed surface vessels to watch over the country's waters. The Fiji Times and other regional outlets reported the event between 22 and 23 October.

Defence and Veterans Affairs Minister Pio Tikoduadua said Fiji is responsible for an exclusive economic zone of about 1.28 million square kilometres, and that about 96 per cent of its trade moves by sea. He listed the threats the plan is meant to meet: transnational organised crime, drug trafficking, human smuggling, illegal fishing, cyber threats and climate change.

The minister said government agencies could not deal with modern crime at sea while working under outdated laws and split authorities, and he called for stronger laws, better coordination between agencies and closer regional cooperation. He also said tougher enforcement had to respect the rights and freedoms of Fijians. A maritime powers law already endorsed by Parliament forms part of the wider reform.

According to The Australia Today, the strategy sets out a framework for maritime governance, coordinated enforcement, better awareness of what is happening at sea, climate resilience, care of the ocean and cyber security. It was drawn up with backing from the United Kingdom's Integrated Security Fund, the United Nations Development Programme and King's College London. Officials from the British and Australian governments, the Fiji Police Force and the Fiji navy attended the launch.

Australia's High Commissioner to Fiji, Peter Roberts, announced the drone vessels alongside Tikoduadua. The Bluebottles are 7.5 metres long, draw their power from the sun, wind and waves, and can stay at sea for up to six months. Tikoduadua said they would become sovereign Fijian assets, run mainly by the Maritime Essential Services Centre under the leadership of the Republic of Fiji Navy, and used to spot drug smuggling and illegal fishing.

Roberts said the task now was to turn the strategy into action rather than keep developing it. Australia has not said how many vessels it will hand over, what they cost or when they will arrive, and Roberts told the Fiji Sun that Australia wanted to keep an element of surprise. The newspaper said Australia will also train Fijian operators.

The drones are meant to work alongside assets Fiji already has through Australian help, including Guardian-class patrol boats supplied under the Pacific Patrol Boat Programme. They are not the first such craft in Fijian waters. Two New Zealand Bluebottles, named Tahi and Rua, were deployed to Fiji from July 2025, and Tikoduadua said those trials detected more than 100 vessels, some with their tracking transponders switched off and some fishing without a licence.

Speaking to ABC Pacific, the minister described the gift as a big step for a country with a very small navy. The broadcaster said Fiji has long had almost no way of seeing what happens across most of its ocean, while traffickers use those waters to move methamphetamine and cocaine through the Pacific. The Bluebottles patrol the surface and send images back to shore by satellite.

Tikoduadua said no nation can protect its oceans on its own. No arrival date has been given for the Australian vessels. The Fiji Sun reported that information they gather will be shared with other law enforcement agencies, and that the navy will manage them as state property.