The tender for the vessels was released in August 1984, and was awarded to Australian Shipbuilding Industries Pty Ltd (now Tenix Western Australia) in September 1985. The first of ten vessels was to be delivered in early 1987. The first vessel, HMPNGS "Tarangau", was officially handed over to the Papua New Guinea Defence Force on 16 May 1987. Over the course of the project the number of participating countries increased. By the end of the construction phase of the project, a total of 22 boats had been delivered to 12 countries, compared to the original order of 10 boats for 8 countries. In total, the project cost for 22 vessels and associated support was A$155.25 million.