Collection of €22m navy ships from New Zealand thwarted by lack of personnel

The Irish Naval Service ship, LÉ James Joyce at the Naval Base in Haulbowline, Co Cork. Picture: Denis Minihane

A lack of personnel will likely prevent the Naval Service from bringing home two ships it has bought from New Zealand.

The two vessels purchased by the Government from the New Zealand Royal Navy (NZRN) are likely to be transported to Ireland by special container ship as the personnel crisis in the Naval Service means it is unlikely it could release crews to go out and sail them back here.

It is believed the voyage could take up to six weeks, but even before that happens the New Zealanders will have to bring the ships up to operational standards.

The Government purchased the inshore patrol vessels, HMNZS Rotoiti and HMNZS Pukaki, for NZ$36m (€22.62m).

However, a condition of sale is that the two ships, which have been mothballed for some time, will be brought back to operational standard. According to the NZRN, that is likely to cost anything up to €11.9m.

The News Zealanders will bear the cost of that.

The ships were mothballed because they did not fit in with New Zealand’s needed for longer range vessels.

The Irish Government purchased them because they are viewed as ideal for fishery protection duties in the Irish Sea. The need for such patrols there was forced on the Government by Brexit.

They are smaller than the P60s (such as LÉ Samuel Beckett and LÉ George Bernard Shaw) which the Naval Service uses for patrols in the Atlantic.

More robust vessels

The Naval Service needs these larger, more robust vessels, because of the rougher weather that is encountered in the Atlantic.

The weather in the Irish Sea is less volatile and therefore ideal for the smaller New Zealand ‘Lake Class’ ships, which are 55m long (180ft.) They also have smaller crews. The P60s have crews of about 45 each, whereas the New Zealand ships can be crewed by as few as 25.

Even at that, the Naval Service could not afford to send two crews down to New Zealand to pick them up and sail them back as it is currently short about 200 personnel of the minimum 1,094 it needs.

The chief of the New Zealand Royal Navy, Rear Admiral David Proctor, said once the ships are brought up to operational standard, he expects them to be shipped to Ireland early next year.

It is likely that New Zealand navy specialists will fly to Ireland to instruct the Naval Service on their use.

The two vessels, which were commissioned by the NZRN in 2009, will be based on the east coast, probably around Dublin or Dún Laoghaire.