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.