Lieutenant-Commander Bruce Walker was rowed ashore one last
time last night, as his 30-year association with HMNZS Toroa,
the Dunedin naval reserve division, wound down.
A new set of Government ears and eyes are about to make New
Zealand's deep seas home, and the country's fisheries are not
the only likely beneficiaries of the navy's new assets.
Fault-prone offshore patrol vessel HMNZS Otago has been hit
by an electrical problem in one if its engines, forcing it to
return to Auckland for repairs, three days into a seven-day
operation in the subantarctic islands.
The Royal New Zealand Navy's two new offshore patrol vessels,
HMNZS Otago and Wellington will depart on a
week-long trip to Campbell Island and the Auckland Islands,
with several precious pieces of cargo on board.
New Zealanders should not be surprised HMNZS Otago has broken
down again and should probably expect problems to come, given
the ship was a cheap option, a defence researcher says.
The navy's new offshore patrol vessel HMNZS Otago could
happily finish its familiarisation voyage around New Zealand
on one engine, says its skipper after it had gearbox problems
soon after it left Auckland.
The teething problems continue for the Royal New Zealand
Navy's new ships, with HMNZS Otago awaiting repair in
Dunedin after arriving at its home port on one engine
yesterday following a gearbox failure.
The man in command of the new HMNZS Otago says the
navy would like to rekindle the relationship the previous
Otago had with the people of its namesake province.
