DEFENCE MEDIA RELEASE
Issued by Ministerial Support and Public Affairs, Department of Defence, Canberra, ACT
Phone: 02 6127 1999, Fax: 02 6265 1545
MSPA 367/09
Monday, 26 October 2009
OPERATION RENDER SAFE CLEARS THE DEADLY
REMNANTS OF WAR IN SOLOMON ISLANDS
The Australian Defence Force has completed the latest in a series of deployments in support
of Operation RENDER SAFE, working to rid the Solomon Islands of unexploded ordnance
left in the wake of some of the bloodiest battles of World War II.
The latest Operation RENDER SAFE deployment, which finished on the 24th of October, saw
HMA Ships Gascoyne and Yarra sail to the Solomon Islands, to dispose of explosives which
accumulated in the waters off the South Pacific nation during heavy fighting between allied
and Japanese forces in World War II.
Using data from a previous survey performed by the hydrographic ship HMAS Melville, the
minehunters Gascoyne and Yarra and their Ships’ Companies worked in the waters off the
island of Malaita and Shortland Harbour in the Solomon Islands, pinpointing 15 explosive
objects on the seabed using the extensive state-of -the-art mine detection systems fitted in
both vessels.
A Royal Australian Navy Clearance Dive Team was then able to locate and dispose of the
ordnance, which ranged in size from artillery shells through to a large British Mark IV Sea
Mine.
Lieutenant General Mark Evans, Chief of Joint Operations Command, said that although the
ADF has been involved with explosive ordnance disposal previously in the South Pacific,
Operation RENDER SAFE is the first enduring operation of its type.
“The ADF’s previous involvement with the removal of unexploded ordnance was on a case-
by-case basis such as operations conducted in the Marshall Islands and Kiribati,” Lieutenant
General Evans said.
“The success of these previous operations and requests to help clear unexploded ordnance has
led to the creation of Operation RENDER SAFE - an enduring assistance operation providing
explosive ordnance disposal support to South Pacific nations.”
Lieutenant General Evans says Operation RENDER SAFE, like Pacific Partnership 2009 and
Operations ANODE in Solomon Islands and ASTUTE East Timor, is indicative of the
ongoing support offered by the ADF to Australia’s South
Media contact: Defence Media Liaison: 02 6127 1999 or 0408 498 664
NEWS 
