The HMNZS Canterbury.
The navy's newest ship is about to have $20 million spent
on a "get well programme" to bring it up to scratch, 15 months
after it was commissioned.
An independent review was ordered by Defence Minister Phil
Goff last year after safety concerns were raised about the
9000-tonne multi role ship, HMNZS Canterbury.
The review by English marine expert John Coles, found the
ship was "intrinsically safe" but also said it would not
function as the navy wanted it to function without the
remedial work.
Mr Coles said in his report released today that the ship
would meet most of the functions demanded of it, but was
likely to perform poorly and be uncomfortable in higher sea
states.
He said the acquisition of the ship was rushed at the expense
of its performance, the complexity of the project was
under-estimated, and the project team did not understand the
constraints imposed by the ship's design as a roll-on,
roll-off ferry.
There had been significant shortcomings in the "governance of
the HMNZS Canterbury acquisition, exacerbated by some
strained relationships between the Ministry of Defence and
the New Zealand Defence Force", Mr Coles said.
He also said the ministry should have been "more robust" with
Tenix to enforce its contract.
That may not have been done because of a lack of
understanding of technical issues.
The review was ordered after concerns were raised about the
ship's safety following the death of Able Seaman Bryan
Solomon when one of the ship's two rigid hulled inflatable
sea boats capsized last year, and the loss of one of the
seaboats and damage to the other.
New seaboats had been ordered and the navy said today until
they arrived in a week or so the ship would not go to sea.
The remedial work included the new seaboats, doors on the
seaboat alcoves to stop them being lost or damaged in high
seas, modifications to the ship's main propulsion gear to
remove the risk of losing power when the propellers came out
of the water in heavy seas, and additional ballasting to make
the ship more comfortable in heavy seas.
However in heavy seas Canterbury would be an uncomfortable
ship, even with the modifications, Mr Coles said.
He was very surprised the seaboat alcoves were not relocated
during the design, but was not surprised the seaboat was lost
during a routine passage in a heavy sea.
Mr Coles said most design shortfalls would be covered by
warranty claims.
Mr Goff welcomed the finding that Canterbury was a safe ship
and with modifications it would deliver what the navy wanted.
He also said he was relieved the ship design did not cause
the death of Mr Solomon. A coroner's report would determine
how he died, Mr Goff said.
He said Canterbury was not a warship but a sealift ship to
transport troops and equipment to security and peacekeeping
deployments.
The review identified problems already found by the Defence
Department and did not find any additional problems, he said.
Mr Goff said the review was not a witch hunt and was not done
to blame anyone for the shortcomings, but rather to identify
problems and solve them.
Some of the $20m would be met by Tenix, (now BAE Systems
Australia) the Australian-based contractor which had the ship
built in Holland and fitted out at its yard in Melbourne.
National's defence spokesman, Wayne Mapp, said the review
report was a damning indictment of the Government's defence
procurement processes.
"National has consistently expressed concern that choosing
this one-off model could lead to unproven risks. The Coles
report vindicates that concern," he said.
"There was a perfectly suitable military design to select
that is in service in the Dutch, Spanish and Royal navies but
the project team opted for an unproven design instead."
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