[5] She is the 2nd boat given to Samoa under the program, as she was ordered by Australia on 2 November 2022 as a replacement for her sister ship Nafanua II, which was damaged beyond repair when she ran aground on 5 August 2021.

[19][20] On 5 August 2021 Nafanua II ran aground on a reef near Salelologa wharf while transporting police officers to Savai'i to manage a protest.

[22] On 21 December 2021 the officer-in-charge of the boat at the time of the accident, Superintendent Taito Sefo Faaoi Hunt, was found guilty on three charges of negligence by a Police disciplinary tribunal.

[24] During a visit to Apia in June 2022, Foreign Minister Penny Wong announced that Australia will build an additional vessel to replace Nafanua II.

[12][29] A key design goal being ease of maintenance to accommodate small and isolated shipyards, the class uses commercial off-the-shelf components.

They are 6.35 metres (20 ft 10 in) long, with two Yamaha 67 kW (90 hp) outboard motors and an operational weight of 2,612.5 kilograms (5,760 lb).

[12][29] Australia instructed that the boats would be delivered without armament, but they were designed to be capable of mounting an autocannon of up to 30 millimetres (1.2 in) on their foredeck, and a 0.50-calibre machine gun both port and starboard in front of the bridge.

[34][35][36] Nafanua III was delivered to Defence Australia by Austal, and handed over to the Samoan Police Service at HMAS Stirling on 22 November 2023.