Navy's newest ship finally due to arrive

REGAL ARRIVAL: HMNZ ships Canterbury and Endeavour, followed by the Anzac frigates HMNZS Te Kaha and HMA frigates Arunta and Anzac into the Auckland harbour.

In a rare sight seven navy ships sailed line-astern into Auckland today.

The fleet included much of the Royal New Zealand Navy and two Australian frigates.

The ships were lead in by HMNZ ships Canterbury and Endeavour, followed by the Anzac frigates HMNZS Te Kaha and HMA frigates Arunta and Anzac.

At the stern were HMNZ inshore patrol boats Hawea and Taupo.

Meanwhile the Navy's newest ship, HMNZS Otago, heads home this weekend, two years after it was finished and tied up at a Melbourne wharf.

The offshore patrol ship (OPV), party of Project Protector, has been caught in a dispute with Australian shipbuilder BAE Systems.

It has agreed to pay nearly $85 million to fix problems with the navy's fleet of seven new ships.

Much of this money will be needed to modify the new multi-role ship HMNZS Canterbury to enable it to operate as designed and cope with rough weather without suffering damage.

Otago will sail on Sunday for Devonport.

HMNZS Wellington will come later.

Otago's skipper, Lieutenant Commander Simon Rooke of Kawerau, will bring the ship into Devonport next Friday.

"It is an incredible feeling to be hours away from sailing from Melbourne to sail Otago home," he said in a statement.

"The entire ship is a hive of activity, and excitement, as we make our final preparations to sail."

A homecoming ceremony is planned Otago being accompanied into harbour by Inshore Patrol Vessels HMNZS Hawea and Taupo.

The Offshore Patrol Vessels deliver substantial new capability to the Royal New Zealand Navy.

The ships can go further offshore, stay at sea longer, and conduct more challenging operations than the Inshore Patrol Vessels, and will enable the RNZN to conduct patrol and surveillance operations around New Zealand, the southern ocean and into the Pacific.

The OPV's are capable of many roles including maritime patrol, surveillance and response. They have the ability to conduct helicopter operations using a Seasprite SH2G helicopter and boarding operations using the ship's Rigid Hull Inflatable Boats.

The OPV's have strengthened hulls which enable them to enter southern waters where ice may be encountered. They are not designed as ice-breakers or to enter Antarctic ice-packs, but have the range and capability to undertake patrols in the southern ocean where ice may be encountered.

The ships are highly automated and operate with a core crew of 35, plus a flight crew of 10 to operate a helicopter. The ships power and control systems are fully computerised.

- © Fairfax NZ News