New navy ship HMNZS Otago has failed a basic safety
test, the second new ship to do so in recent weeks, prompting
concerns about the way the project to build seven new ships
for the New Zealand Defence Force has been managed.
A report from the Auditor-general's office due this month is
expected to express deep concern about the NZDF and Ministry
of Defence management of Project Protector.
An NZDF spokesman confirmed this week Otago, the first
of two new offshore patrol vessels (OPVs) being built by
Tenix in Melbourne, had failed to gain Lloyds certification
for ship safety.
The ship will not be certified until remedial work on its
rigid inflatable boat (RIB) is carried out.
Last week it was revealed Lloyds also refused to issue final
certification to the first of four new inshore patrol vessels
(IPVs), HMNZS Rotoiti, being built at Tenix in
Whangarei.
Lloyds found Rotoiti had multiple problems, including
a lack of basic fire and safety measures and insulation,
ventilation and engine issues; similar to those problems
corrected on Otago earlier this year.
Defence Minister Phil Goff said the ships needed to meet all
standards and requirements before Tenix offered them for
acceptance by the navy.
"I'm prepared to see the time taken to get the job done
right.
''That's important for the performance of the ship, and it's
important for safety.
''It's getting it right that is critical.
''If it takes a bit longer then the navy is prepared to take
that time to ensure that they get what they contracted for."
All the problems with Otago had been fixed, with the RIB the
only thing still requiring a sign-off, the NZDF spokesman
said.
Rotoiti and Otago were the first of both
classes of the ships, and any problems identified on them
could be corrected and modified on the rest of the ships,
which were at an advanced stage of construction, he said.
An Auditor-general's office spokeswoman said the interim
report on a performance audit of contracts for a number of
recent major defence acquisitions would be presented to the
Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Select Committee on June
30.
The report would outline things the office wanted to
investigate further in the next year.
National defence spokesman Wayne Mapp said safety failings on
the first three ships to be produced by Project Protector and
an inherent stability issue with HMNZS Canterbury,
raised some serious questions.
He understood the Auditor-general's interim report would
express deep concern about the way the projects were managed,
he said.
He understood the new IPVs and OPVs were well liked at sea
trials and that the problems were fixable, but stability
problems with Canterbury were a major issue and would
not be fixed easily, or cheaply.
Both ships will be nearly two years behind scheduled by the
time they are delivered.
