After the United Nations Convention on the Laws of the Seas extended maritime nations' exclusive economic zones (EEZs) to 200 kilometres (110 nmi) Australia agreed to give its smaller neighbours in the Pacific Forum patrol vessels of their own, so they could police their extended EEZs.

Nafanua, and her sister ships, were designed to use commercial off-the-shelf components, not cutting edge, military-grade equipment, so that they would be easier to maintain in small, isolated shipyards.

[1] In 2008 Ombudsman Maiava Iulai Toma chaired a commission of inquiry into the smuggling of weapons from American Samoa aboard the Nafanua.

[4][5] In September 2014 Nafanua rescued four fishermen from American Samoa, whose vessel had broken down, who were found adrift 185 miles south of Apia.

[citation needed] Australia started building a class of replacements for the original Pacific Forum patrol vessels, in 2017.