KEY POINTS:
The navy's top brass has warned the service is struggling to find enough sailors to keep its ships at sea.
Chief of Navy, Rear Admiral David Ledson, said some branches of the navy were already "in a very delicate position with only a few people being the difference between a ship having to stay alongside in Devonport or being able to go to sea and do its job.
"This situation is placing the navy and sailors under real strain," he said in the latest issue of the navy magazine Navy Today.
Admiral Ledson said the navy faced two big challenges this year.
The first was to keep its existing fleet of eight ships at sea.
The second was to get the seven new ships being built under the $500 million Project Protector programme to sea "and to keep them there."
The first of the seven new ships, the multi-role vessel Canterbury, was due to arrive in Auckland within the next few months.
It had a crew of 63 but could also accommodate 35 trainees.
Admiral Ledson said the biggest challenge was getting the right people in the right places.
The navy is understood to be losing sailors at an alarming rate, possibly three or four a week.
However, Admiral Ledson said the upside of the staff shortage was the commitment of sailors to help resolve a "critical" problem.
"With sailors such as these there is no doubt that it is within our reach to be the best small-nation navy in the world." he said.
The navy's eight existing ships are:
* HMNZS Te Kaha, Anzac frigate, 3600 tonnes, 163 crew;
* HMNZS Te Mana, Anzac frigate, 3600 tonnes, 163 crew;
* HMNZS Endeavour, fleet replenishment, 12,300 tonnes (laden), 49 crew;
* HMNZS Resolution, survey ship, 2262 tonnes, 18 crew;
* HMNZS Manawanui, dive tender, 911 tonnes, 24 crew;
* HMNZS Kiwi, HMNZS Wakakura and HMNZS Kahu, inshore patrol craft, 91 tonnes, 16 crew.
The seven new Project Protector ships are:
* HMNZS Canterbury, multi role ship, 8870 tonnes, 63 crew;
* HMNZS Wellington, HMNZS Otago, offshore patrol vessels, 1583 tonnes, 45 crew;
* HMNZS Taupo, HMNZS Rotoiti, HMNZS Pukaki, HMNZS Hawea; inshore patrol vessels, 340 tonnes, 20 crew.
- NZPA
