MARITIME NEWS – 27 SEPTEMBER 2016 Royal Navy Boosts Recompression Chamber Deployment Capacity
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
MARITIME NEWS – 27 SEPTEMBER 2016 Royal Navy boosts recompression chamber deployment capacity Recompression chamber being loaded onto HMS Dauntless . Photo: Royal Navy The Royal Navy is now capable of having its recompression chambers reach stricken submariners and divers faster as a recent trial showed that the navy’s six Type 45 destroyers can fit the chambers to their flight decks. Until now only the Navy’s thirteen Type 23 frigates were able to deploy the emergency stores which are held at six hours’ notice to move in HMNB Devonport in Plymouth. A recompression chamber shrinks the size of the damaging gas bubbles that have formed in the tissues of divers – or submariners who have undertaken an emergency departure from their boat – who rise to surface too quickly. The Royal Navy has two recompression chambers on standby to support the submarine community, each of which is housed in an ISO container, weighs 13.6 tonnes and can accommodate 11 people at a time. The trial was conducted on HMS Dauntless by the Submarine Escape Rescue and Survival Team (SMERAS) team from Gosport. “In the unlikely event of a submarine being in distress, our preferred method of rescue is clearly on the surface, or via the NATO Submarine Rescue System from HMNB Clyde in Scotland,” said SMERAS Warrant Officer Steve Micallef. “If submariners have to leave their boats underwater, they could possibly suffer from the bends, or decompression sickness. “So being able to have a broader range of surface ships to carry our two recompression chambers quickly to the scene provides us with more options, should our services ever be required. “I would like to extend my gratitude to the captain and crew of HMS Dauntless for their co-operation and support, and also the Southern Diving Group who maintain the recompression chambers, compressors and generators as part of their everyday duties.” The trial took nine months to plan and included having the deck plans approved by the MOD’s Naval Architects, the Royal Navy said. Source : Naval Today Parliamentary Defence Committee fact-finding visit to SANDF facilities and bases A senior SA National Defence Force (SANDF) Special Forces officer told members of Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans that cutting the defence budget was akin to taking the country’s security for granted. Brigadier General Stephen Maloma was speaking to committee members who were in Pretoria and surrounds last week to see first-hand prevailing conditions at certain military bases and facilities. According to the Parliamentary communication service, they went to 1 Military Hospital in Thaba Tshwane, Special Forces Headquarters and the Special Forces School as well as the headquarters of the SA Air Force (SAAF) and its hub of transport excellence – AFB Waterkloof. Committee members also called on the Works Formation’s Gauteng regional workshop. This workshop, one of nine provincial units under the auspices of the Works Formation, is currently doing demolition work at the military medical facility as part of a major maintenance and repair contract. The committee expressed concern about slow procurement processes which have delayed completion of work at the hospital, especially in the pharmacy and theatre areas. “We understand the services of a medical technologist still have to be procured before the project can be completed,” committee chairman Malusi Motimele said, adding the matter would be taken up with Department of Defence management and “eventually” the Minister (Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula) to speed up the process. While at the Valhalla Hill complex which houses Joint Operations and Special Forces, committee members were briefed by Maloma who stressed cuts to the national defence budget could be seen as compromising national security. He said no country could claim to be a regional power if it stood by its progressive foreign policy and compromised its capability of translating this into quality defence services. “Cutting the budget of the army is tantamount to cutting the defence value of the country,” he said, giving the United States as an example of what can be done. “The US takes the business of defence seriously and keeps its defence capacity strong all the time. It always prioritises its defence and ensures its military capacity becomes and remains powerful.” Committee members were told, according to the Parliamentary communication service, budget cuts have diminished Special Forces capacity and have “far-reaching and serious implications on the number of warm bodies and other important and necessary resources”. Maloma said SANDF Special Forces was a unit that exists to do what other units cannot do. “Special Forces go where others can’t and must at all times provide a rapid response when required. Special Forces soldiers must be able to meet all conditions – normal or abnormal.” He also told committee members that while Special Forces numbers were less than needed, protection of their facilities was not compromised. “We are untouchable. Our facilities are under strong and reliable protection 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” he is reported as having said. Source : defenceWeb SA Special Forces remain a very active and credible force and I am pleased to see, do not mince words. Larsen and Toubro signs $99 million Vietnamese ship deal Larsen and Toubro has signed a $99 million contract with the Vietnam Border Guard for high speed patrol vessels, the Indian company announced Thursday. The contract calls for design and construction of the vessels, as well as transfer of design and technology, equipment and material kits for construction of follow- on vessels at a Vietnamese shipyard, the company said in a statement. The vessels are for controlling and protecting sea security and sovereignty, anti-smuggling and search and rescue missions. The 114-foot-long vessels are made of an aluminum alloy and reach speeds of 35 knots. In keeping with the Indian government's "Make in India" policy, design and engineering of the ships will be done at the company's dedicated warship design center. The company is currently executing Indian ministry of defense contracts for design and construction of 54 interceptor boats for the Indian coast guard, 28 of which have been delivered. Source : Space War Notwithstanding its rather ‘European’ name Larsen and Toubro is a major Indian engineering and ship building company. Canada Confirms HMS Terror Find Canada confirmed on Monday it has found the wreck of HMS Terror , the second of two British ships lost in the disastrous Franklin Arctic voyage of 1845, and said the government will work closely with northern aboriginals on ownership of the artifacts. Parks Canada, a federal agency, said in a statement it will work on "joint ownership" of the wreckage from the journey through Canada's Northwest Passage. Britain's Guardian newspaper reported earlier this month that the Arctic Research Foundation, a private group participating in the search effort, had found the ship in pristine condition at the bottom of a bay. Sir John Franklin and his 128-member crew on the Terror and HMS Erebus all died after the vessels became stuck in ice during a search for the fabled Arctic passage between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The fate of the ships remained one of the great mysteries in Canadian history for almost 170 years until a team found the wreck of the Erebus in September 2014. The expedition has become part of Canadian folklore, in part because of the crew's appalling fate. Tales handed down from the Inuit people describe cannibalism among the desperate seamen. Parks Canada underwater archaeologists were able to observe the wreck’s excellent condition. They found many elements still in their original location such as the ship’s wheel, on the upper deck, astern of the skylight of the captain’s cabin. Amazingly, a captain’s cabin window at the ship’s stern is still in place. During these dives, the weather conditions were bad with poor underwater visibility in Terror Bay. However, by comparing solid archaeological data to an extensive research archive, the Parks Canada's Underwater Archaeology Team was able to confirm that the wreck is indeed HMS Terror . The archaeological validation was based on a side-scan sonar survey and three dives on the wreck. A multi-beam echo sounder was used to complete an additional survey of the wreck site. The dives took place during difficult weather conditions and through poor visibility. The wreck’s upper deck is heavily covered by silt and marine life. Nevertheless, the divers were able to observe a number of features that were typical or unique to 19th century British polar exploration ships and the wreck has a number of design specifications that were common to both HMS Erebus and HMS Terror , including three masts, iron bow sheathings and a double-wheeled helm. There are no wrecks other than HMS Erebus with these features in the region. Comparing this solid archaeological data to an extensive research archive that includes ship plans of HMS Erebus and HMS Terror , Parks Canada’s Underwater Archaeology Team was able to confirm that the wreck is HMS Terror. The scans showed the well preserved wreck has and features matching the historic records for HMS Terror , including: the configuration of the bowsprit (the spar extending from the ship’s bow); placement of the ship’s helm; the boarding port; and deck scuppers (holes on the side of the ship to allow drainage) which differ from HMS Erebus . Parks Canada will determine ownership in conjunction with the Inuit aboriginals in the northernmost Canadian territory of Nunavut and unnamed "government organizations," the agency said, without giving details. HMS Terror’s History HMS Terror was built over a period of two years at the Davy shipyard in Topsham, England.