Wayne Caines will make a ministerial statement tomorrow about the sale of the “white elephant” flagship of the marine police fleet.

The national security minister did not respond to questions about the sale of the Australian-built patrol boat MV Guardian, bought in 2006 for $1.7 million and sold for less than $70,000.

However, he told another media outlet that the vessel was expensive to maintain and that its value had dropped to between $300,000 and $350,000 by last year — and as much as $100,000 of repairs were needed to make the boat seaworthy.

The boat was advertised for sale last December and two offers were submitted. The highest offer was $69,000.

The Royal Gazette reported on Tuesday that the 54-foot vessel was bought by Crisson Construction for “less than $70,000”.

The high-tech boat has a range of 200 miles and was designed originally for the New South Wales Water Police in Australia.