New Zealand takes delivery of patrol ship

WELLINGTON, New Zealand, June 18 (UPI) -- The New Zealand navy has taken delivery of the 1,900-ton HMNZ Wellington, the last ship in a 12-vessel modernization program.

The Wellington, which sailed from the manufacturer's dockyard in Australia, arrived at Devonport Naval Base in Auckland to an official welcome that included a haka, the traditional Maori dance done before a battle.

"Wellington, like her recently arrived sister ship Otago, is a great asset for (the Royal New Zealand Navy) and and (the New Zealand Defense Force)," said the new ship's commanding officer, Lt. Cmdr. Simon Griffiths. "It is going to deliver a substantial new capability to surveillance patrols and military support operations throughout New Zealand, the south Pacific, and the southern ocean."

The Wellington is the seventh ship in the Project Protector fleet. It and the recently-commissioned Otago are off-shore patrol vessels. The other ships in Project Protector are the multi-role Canterbury, commissioned in 2007, and four smaller in-shore patrol vessels, the Rotoiti, Hawea, Pukaki and Taupo.

Project Protector fleet requirements were outlined in the 2002 Maritime Forces Review conducted by the defense ministry in cooperation with the Ministry of Fisheries, Customs, Treasury and the Maritime Safety Authority.

The vessels' capabilities include sea lift, coastal and offshore patrol and at-sea training for the Royal New Zealand Navy. In April 2004, the Australian firm Tenix Defense was chosen as the prime construction contractor for ships and other multi-role vessel for the navy. The first steel was cut in 2005.

Both the Wellington and the Otago have a crew of 35 and 10 flight crew to operate a Seasprite SH2G helicopter. The ships have a 9-foot Zodiac rigid-hull inflatable boat for boarding operations as well as for assisting military embarkments.

Their strengthened hulls will allow them to enter southern waters where ice may be encountered. However, they are not designed as ice-breakers or to enter Antarctic ice-packs.

The Wellington and Otago are nearly 280 feet long and 46 feet wide and are have two Mann Burmeister & Wain 12RK280 diesels producing 5,400 kW of power. Top speed is 22 knots and the range is 6,000 nautical miles.

Wellington arrived on schedule, unlike the Otago which was delayed by more than a week due to an engine fault after it left Australia. The ship had to "limp" back to the shipyards in Melbourne, according to reports.

The faults, two blown gaskets that may have been an installation fault, were fixed by BAE Systems, the engine supplier, under terms of the ship's warranty, a New Zealand Defense Force statement said at the time.

When the Project Protector contract was awarded in 2004, Tenix Defense was Australia's largest defense contractor with core capabilities in aerospace, land, marine and electronic systems. BAE Systems acquired the company from Tenix Group in January 2008, completing the deal in June that year for around $550 million.

The acquisition made BAE Systems Australia the country's largest defense contractor.

In June 2007, Australia announced that Tenix Defense was the preferred tenderer for the construction of the two Canberra-class large amphibious ships at a cost of $2.6 billion. The ships are due to enter service from 2013.

Tenix proposes to build the Navantia design in partnership with the Spanish company.