RHIB & Landing Craft Issues
Canterbury weathered her first strong storm during 10 July 2007 well, though she lost one of her RHIBs (and almost lost the other) to waves swamping her open boat bays while near Tauranga on the way to Auckland. The RHIB was found a week later washed ashore on Great Barrier Island, 200 kilometres (120 mi) to the north, and recovered by a farmer. The heavily damaged boat was to be returned to the navy, though it is unclear whether it can be repaired.
A court of inquiry found that the loss was due to a known design flaw identified in tank testing. The flaw resulted in the loss of the RHIB and water entering the cargo deck after the doors were opened by the sea. As a result of this the doors were tied shut. The court of inquiry also reported slamming of the bow and propellers leaving the water. Options to resolve the design problems on the ship include closing the alcoves in which the ships boats had been stowed. At the time the RHIB was lost, the ship's log records the weather conditions as being a wind strength of 60 knots (110 km/h; 69 mph), gusting to 73 knots (135 km/h; 84 mph), a swell of 6 metres (20 ft) (sea state six), and a completely overcast, very dark night. The alcoves are 3.3 metres (11 ft) above the waterline and were swamped by the waves and because the ship was experiencing severe motion, rolling up to 28 degrees to port, at a roll frequency of 11.5 seconds. The ship's anti-roll system will not function when the period of the ships roll is less than 11.9 seconds. Work to relocate the boats in a less vulnerable location is underway.
In October 2007, a crewmember was killed when an RHIB capsized whilst being lowered into the sea. The Navy immediately began an inquiry into the accident. Defence Minister Phil Goff later reported that it was caused by the failure of a quick release shackle, which was now being replaced on all naval vessels.
In November 2007, Lieutenant General Jerry Mateparae said that certain issues were being discussed with the shipbuilder including the location of the Rigid-hulled inflatable boat(RHIB) on the quarterdeck from which it was torn off during the storm in July, possible fatigue problems with the landing craft fittings, and some other issues.
New Zodiac inflatable sea boats were ordered from Tenix Australia to replace the two Gemini sea boats that were damaged.
In 2010, it was decided that two new Landing Craft would have to be built for Canterbury, as they experienced a variety of issues, from material problems experienced with weak bow ramps, to stability problems, which severely curtailed their usability. The Australian builders of the ship, BAE Systems, agreed to pay $85 million towards remedying the faults of the ship, including the construction of the new landing craft.
Read more about this topic: HMNZS Canterbury (L421), Issues
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