A newly delivered patrol vessel will be deployed on fisheries enforcement duties off the northern coast of Western Australia.
Equinox will be based out of Broome and will patrol northern WA waters across the Kimberely region with a focus on commercial and recreational fisheries compliance and marine park management.
The WA Government said the vessel will also provide an important additional capability for monitoring remote islands, coastal areas and wildlife populations across the northern portion of the state.
Equinox will also support the WA Government's co-ordinated bird flu response by helping surveillance teams access remote locations, investigate reports, and monitor areas that can be difficult to reach from land.
The vessel will assist with other core activities in collaboration with state and federal agencies, including marine safety, sea search and rescue, shark incident response, whale disentanglement, and illegal foreign fishing interception.
The WA Government invested AU$13.7 million (US$9.8 million) into the project to replace the WA Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development's ageing patrol vessel Walcott.
Equinox was designed by Southerly Designs.