Tuvalu Prime Minister Feleti Teo welcomed a Royal Australian Navy task unit to survey Nanumea Lagoon under Operation Render Safe.
Mr Teo joined senior Tuvalu Government officials on board HMAS Diamantina after the minehunter arrived in Funafuti on July 1.
He described the ADF-led mission as deeply significant for his nation.
"As a small island nation, our lagoons and surrounding marine environment are central to our way of life," Mr Teo said.
"Explosive remnants of war are more than relics of history; they are unfinished business from a conflict that our people did not create or want, but whose legacy we continue to live with today.
"Operation Render Safe represents another important chapter in the long-standing cooperation between our two countries."
Operating for more than two decades, Render Safe supports Pacific-led security by identifying and safely disposing of unexploded ordnance left behind from World War II.
'Unexploded ordnance continues to threaten lives, restrict farming and endanger marine ecosystems.'
At the request of the Tuvalu Government, Diamantina and Pacific support vessel ADV Reliant will conduct a technical reconnaissance survey of Nanumea Lagoon over two weeks.
Commander Operation Render Safe 2026 Commander Nick Lee said the mission built on survey work undertaken during Render Safe 2022 and would inform future clearance operations to reduce the risk posed by unexploded ordnance to local communities and vessels operating in Tuvaluan waters.
"For Tuvalu, and many communities across the Pacific, the scars of the conflict 80 years ago remain," Commander Lee said.
"Unexploded ordnance continues to threaten lives, restrict farming and endanger marine ecosystems.
"We need to identify the number, size and type of unexploded ordnance so that, with the continued consent of the Tuvalu Government, we can return in the future to safely remove those hazards and help protect both the people of Tuvalu and the surrounding marine environment."
Personnel from the Tuvalu Police Service Maritime Wing will accompany the Royal Australian Navy task unit during the reconnaissance mission to Nanumea, which departed Funafuti on July 2.
