[7][8][9] Following the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea extension of maritime nations' exclusive economic zones to 200 kilometres (108 nmi) Australia agreed to provide twelve of its neighbours with 22 Pacific Forum-class patrol vessels, so they could exercise sovereignty over their own extended EEzs, using their own resources.

[11] Guardian class vessels were designed to use commercial off-the-shelf components, not cutting edge, military grade equipment, to make them easier to maintain in small isolated shipyards.

[9] Their design allows the recipient nations to mount a pair of heavy machine guns, on either flank, and possibly an autocannon of up to 30mm, on the foredeck.

[16] Diro, head of the PNGDF Major General Gilbert Toropo and Angus Campbell, Chief of the Australian Defence Force, attended the vessel's commissioning, on 1 February 2019.

On 17 October 2019 The Australian reported that Ted Diro's engines had broken down, and she had to be towed back to Cairns, for repairs.