The South African Navy donated two harbour patrol boats to Namibia on Friday in a bid to help that country protect its fishing stocks.

The vessels, considered surplus to South Africa's requirements, were presented to a Namibian delegation at Simonstown by Deputy Defence Minister Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge.

The navy said in a statement fishing resources were dwindling and it was the responsibility of every country within southern Africa to effectively patrol its waters.

"The two craft are South Africa's contribution to assisting Namibia in patrolling their waters," the navy said.

The German government had also agreed to fund the purchase of five new engines, two global positioning systems and two compasses.

The boats, which were first introduced in the South African Navy in 1979, has a maximum speed of 30 knots and a range of 167 nautical miles (about 310km) at 20 knots.

With acknowledgement to Sapa.