THE PRESS SATURDAY, MAY 31, 1986. Extending the Navy’s range

Press, 31 May 1986, Page 18

THE PRESS SATURDAY, MAY 31, 1986. Extending the Navy’s range

The Royal New Zealand Navy’s new tanker will be an important step towards achieving the Government’s object of greater selfsufficiency for the country’s defence forces. Not that the need for the tanker has arisen solely because the Government’s defence policies have forced the country to distance itself from former allies. The need for such a ship has been recognised for years. After searching for a second-hand ship for more than 12 months, the Navy has settled for a new ship that will cost about $2B million.

Without such a ship the Navy faces severe limitations on its operations. The country’s frigate squadron, especially, has had to depend on refuelling from allied tankers if its ships hoped to remain at sea for more than a few days, or to operate over the huge distances of the Pacific Ocean. Now that New Zealand has divorced itself from such help, or made help less readily available, the country must be prepared to pay the price of keeping its own warships at sea. Otherwise, even limited operations among the island territories, where New Zealand still has defence commitments, would be difficult. The tanker will be the first new, sizeable ship for the New Zealand Navy for more than a decade. In more recent times the Navy has had to make do with cast offs from the Royal Navy and with smaller coastal patrol craft. The decision to have the ship built in South Korea may not be as curious as it looks. The Koreans have been building small warships for South-East Asian countries for some time. Their shipbuilding industry is competitive and aggressive in its pricing. South Korea is also a country where New Zealand’s export sales could well be

expanded, provided this country offers something more in return than token orders for Korean cars. However much the Labour Government might dislike the South Korean regime, turning to Korean shipyards was a sensible choice.

The Navy desperately needs other new ships if it is to carry out its increasing tasks of patrol and surveillance. Even in peacetime, the present fleet is barely adequate. The frigates are too large, and too expensive to operate, to make useful patrol vessels for New Zealand’s fisheries. Other patrol craft have turned out to be too small, especially in rugged weather. Something in between, up to about 1000 tons, is going to be needed very soon. Such vessels would have their capabilities much improved by working with the new tanker.

The new tanker is only one step on a long road if New Zealand’s Armed Services are to develop credible, self-sufficient capabilities. More of the country’s requirements may have to be manufactured here, perhaps including larger ships for the Navy. Costs will be high if industries have to be- developed from scratch for small production runs. In an interesting parallel, South Africa last month launched a new fleet supply ship about the same size as New Zealand’s planned 12,000-ton vessel. Built in Durban, it is costing about $65 million, including armaments. South Africa, isolated, with a rugged coastline to defend, and few helpful friends, may hold lessons for New Zealand. Something close to self-sufficiency may be possible for a small country, but the costs are high. There was much to be said for having larger, helpful allies.