Ireland to procure two patrol vessels from New Zealand

The deal is expected to include two decommissioned Lake Class ships.

Ireland is reportedly set to procure two patrol vessels from New Zealand in a bid to bolster maritime security.

According to local publication The Irish Examiner, several months of negotiations have led to an agreement to purchase the two Lake Class ships.

Lake-class inshore patrol vessels HMNZS Rotoiti and HMNZS Pukaki.

An official announcement on the deal is expected soon, the publication added. Other details including the financial terms of the deal are not immediately available.

The two vessels were decommissioned by New Zealand as they didn’t meet the country’s long-range patrolling requirements.

However, the vessels can fulfil Ireland’s short-range requirements such as patrolling and surveillance operations in the Irish Sea. Additionally, the Lake Class ships can operate with less crew compared to Irish Navy’s P60 vessels.

The acquisition will also enable the larger vessels to focus on operations in the Atlantic Sea.

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The Irish Examiner further added that the British-built New Zealand ships is expected to be based on the east coast and will be used for fisheries patrols.

The potential acquisition comes at a time when Ireland’s naval service launched a major recruitment to address staff shortages.

Currently, Irish Naval Service has less than 200 people, significantly less compared to its minimum strength of 1,094 personnel.

Last month, Babcock secured an additional seven-and-a-half-year Maritime Fleet Sustainment Service contract from the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF).

Under the contract, Babcock will provide asset management services to the entire Royal New Zealand Navy fleet.

Poorly researched article. First these vessels were not British built but were built here in New Zealand. The old Lake Class IPC's from back in the 1980's were built in England yes. These Lake Class IPV's built in the early 2000's are larger and have better sea keep qualities

Secondly the not meeting the long range patrolling requirements is a half truth. They can't patrol the Southern Ocean due to the conditions of the Southern Ocean. They have sailed to Fiji, and Samoa on many occasions to help the islands with their fishery patrols. Basically range was not the issue.

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The NZDF decommissioned them due to a variety of reasons. The RNZN initially only ever needed and wanted 2 (not 4 of them) in the first place. They can not do deep patrols into the Southern Ocean which they were asked to do at first. The OPV's were built for this and they struggle at times.

Another Half truth is that at the time they were decommissions the RNZN had a manning shortage which is a half truth. The main reason they were decommissioned is the RNZN are getting a purpose built SOPV or Southern Ocean Patrol Vessel. So it was a mixture of reasons why the RNZN decommissioned them.