KEY POINTS:
Six new Navy ships languishing in Whangarei and Melbourne are expected to be in action soon, after safety issues delayed their commissioning for more than a year.
The Labour Government ordered seven new ships under the $500 million Project Protector scheme.
They were all due to be commissioned before the end of 2007 but the Navy has accepted and commissioned only one - the multi-role HMNZS Canterbury - and that has been dogged by safety and design issues.
One of the main issues had been the 7.4m rigid-hulled inflatable seaboats carried in alcoves on either side of the ship.
They were found to be unsuitable and prevented the ship going to sea.
They were also the same design as the boats to be supplied to the other six ships.
But Defence Minister Wayne Mapp said BAe Systems, the company which built the ships, had agreed to provide eight new inflatable seaboats worth $500,000 each.
HMNZS Canterbury was commissioned in Melbourne in June 2007. During heavy seas in the Bay of Plenty in its first voyage around New Zealand the next month, it lost one of its seaboats from its storage alcove on the side of the ship, about 6m above the waterline.
The wrecked boat was later found on Great Barrier Island more than 100km to the north.
The seaboat issue and other issues on the 9000-tonne Canterbury kept the ship alongside for months last year after an independent report said modifications costing $20 million were needed.
The seaboat problems were also largely responsible for delaying the formal commissioning of the other six ships in the fleet - four 340-tonne, 55m inshore patrol craft and two 1600-tonne, 85m offshore patrol vessels built in Melbourne.
Dr Mapp said after touring the Devonport naval base last week that the commissioning of the other six ships was looking "very promising"and he hoped to make an announcement soon.
The issues with the seven ships were the problem of the previous Labour Government, he said.
Former Defence Minister Phil Goff was "responsible for a lot of those problems - a bad contract in many respects, some poor thinking through at the initial stages of what was needed".
Dr Mapp said the same seaboats would be installed on the rest of the Project Protector fleets.
"BAe Systems has recognised that the previous seaboats were not suitable for the purpose and [has] agreed to supply the new ones."
- NZPA
