[Article] Upgrade of naval fleet to cost €180m

Victor

http://home.eircom.net/content/irelandcom/topstories/9636837?view=Eircomnet

Upgrade of naval fleet to cost €180m
From:ireland.com
Saturday, 6th January, 2007

The Government is to spend some €180 million on three custom-built vessels for the Naval Service in what is believed to be the State's largest ever single military equipment contract, writes Liam Reid, Political Reporter

The three vessels will include one large ship costing in the region of €90 million. This will be the single most expensive purchase ever made by the Defence Forces and will be capable of transporting military equipment for peace missions abroad. It will also have the capacity to participate in emergency humanitarian missions in any part of the world.

An additional €90 million will be spent on a further two replacement ships. These will be 80m (262ft) long and similar to the largest vessels in the current fleet.

The move is part of a plan to replace three of the oldest vessels in the Naval Service, the LÉ Emer, LÉ Aoife and LÉ Aisling, which were commissioned nearly 30 years ago and are coming to the end of their working lives.These vessels are scheduled to be decommissioned between next year and 2010.

A specialist group of senior civil servants and officers from the Naval Service and Army is to bring recommendations to Minister for Defence Willie O'Dea on the replacement vessels.

Mr O'Dea is expected to bring the proposals to Cabinet by the middle of this year, with the first ship to come into service by the end of 2009. At present there are eight vessels in the Naval Service fleet. Based in Haulbowline in Cork Harbour, the fleet's main duties involve coastal and fishery patrols.

One of the three new vessels is expected to be a 120m (394ft) "enhanced naval vessel" which will be one-third larger than the largest existing ship in the fleet.

The requirement for a larger vessel has been prompted by a variety of additional needs identified by the Naval Service, including a worsening in weather conditions in Irish coastal waters.

An application by Ireland to have a proposed extension to the continental shelf could require patrols in an area 13 times the present patrol area up to 1,300km (800 miles) off the west and southwest coast.

Studies and records by the Naval Service and Met Éireann also indicate that weather conditions off the Irish coast, seen as some of the worst in the world, are deteriorating further, and that a larger capacity vessel is required. The new vessel will operate mainly on coastal patrol duties, but it will also have a significant cargo-carrying capacity. This will allow it to be used to transport equipment abroad for Defence Forces peacekeeping duties, including armoured personnel carriers such as the MOWAG vehicles operated by the Defence Forces.

At present, the Defence Forces hire commercial cargo ships to transport equipment overseas.

It is also envisaged the larger ship will be able to carry emergency supplies and equipment as part of EU-led humanitarian reaction forces.

The Government has already moved to establish a rapid reaction capability, and is in the process of stockpiling emergency equipment at two locations in Meath and southern Italy.

In recent years, Irish naval vessels have gone on longer voyages.

Last year, the LÉ Eithne had a three-month deployment to Argentina, while the LÉ Róisín has been on a five-week deployment to Athens and the Mediterranean.

Maskhadov

The fleet really needs 10 extra ships for the expansion of the sea area. These ships should really be 100 meter to deal with the high seas.

cushtac

Good luck finding the sailors to crew 10 extra ships.

Maskhadov

those new ships have very small crews

cushtac

As far as I know, the Roisín class have a compliment of 47. So if you get 10 more of that class you'll need an extra 470 sailors just to crew them, not including the extra support staff needed. The NS isn't exactly beating away recruits as it is, how do you expect them to entice at least 500 more people to enlist?

Maskhadov

the Naval Reserve can fill some of them. 500 new recruits isnt a whole pile

Hagar

My guess is that the new ships will generate the interest. I'm sure a lot of potential recruits were put off by the thoughts of crewing the current fleet.

cushtac

The NSR (useful though it is) has only three companies, cannot send all it's bodies to sea & is limited to the same man days as the rest of the RDF. 500 is a lot of people to come up with, especially when young people can earn more in a civvy job where they work regular hours & get the weekends off.

It's not a case of 'if you build them, they will come' - you'd have to do some serious revision of service conditions to get that many people in.

Hagar

cushtac wrote:

It's not a case of 'if you build them, they will come' - you'd have to do some serious revision of service conditions to get that many people in.

If you don't build them no one will come. But yes serious revisions are required in tandem with the new boats or it will be money wasted.

Alkers

NSR members have 42 man-days each per annum. There is also room to take on a good lot of new members in the NSR and very little effort made to try and do so. Also what's the deal with the PDF recruitment process, is it tough to get in? Anytime I've seen a class it's always been of a decent size, just wondering what is limiting the number of recruits: places availible or people willing to apply?

Vorsprung

cushtac wrote:

Good luck finding the sailors to crew 10 extra ships.