Pacific 2008: Armidales back at work | ADM Dec 07/Jan 08
By Julian Kerr
Two-and-a-half years after the Royal Australian Navy's (RAN's) Armidale class patrol boats first entered service, Defence has been obliged to defend the class against charges of a range of purported failings.
Varying in seriousness from morale issues arising from multi-crewing to blocked toilets, the alleged faults are in addition to the fuel contamination which has seen the Armidale fleet twice in its short service life subject to operational restrictions.
The 14-boat fleet was built by Austal Ships Ltd in Fremantle as a subcontractor to Defence Maritime Services Pty Ltd (DMS), a joint venture between P and O Maritime Services and Serco Australia.
DMS is also supporting the boats throughout their service lives.
The first-of-class, HMAS Armidale, was commissioned in Darwin in June 2005.
The final boat, HMAS Glenelg, was completed in October and will commission in 2008.
While 12 boats are home-ported in Darwin and Cairns, Glenelg and her sister-ship HMAS Maryborough are to be forward-based in Dampier to protect offshore oil and gas facilities along the North West Shelf.
Although the 56.8 metre Armidales are a significant improvement in most areas over the Fremantle class they replace, the boats have twice experienced embarrassing problems with water contamination in their main engine fuel systems which in each instance has led to most of the fleet either temporarily being tied up, or had operating restrictions imposed.
The problem is understood to have been caused by the filtering systems allowing an unacceptably high level of water in the boats' fuel tanks and causing the fuel pumps to fail.
This has sometimes been accompanied by significant fuel leakage into machinery spaces.
Problem timeline
The problem first occurred in September 2006 when the ships were withdrawn from operational duties for a month.
Despite a redesign of engineering controls, the fault resurfaced in January 2007 when an "Operational Pause" was ordered while the cause was re-investigated and a variety of engineering modifications and procedural changes were put in place.
According to the Defence Annual Report 2006-2007, the Armidale class achieved only 60 per cent of mission capability for assigned tasks due to the restrictions imposed because of the fuel system defects.
(The period under review began with three Armidale class boats and increased to 10 by the end of June 2007).
Defence has acknowledged that the task of introducing the boats into service has been "very complex and demanding".
"Like any new capability, technical issues associated with their introduction into service arose and are being methodically overcome.
"Performance targets for this current year continue to trend upwards and the patrol boat force has been consistently meeting its operational commitments for several months."
Defence also points out that there have been no fuel contamination problems in recent months, with the final five vessels of the class being delivered with fuel treatment and transfer system modifications incorporated into their build to address the defects.
Multi-crewing: the pros and cons
Among issues raised recently in the media has been the allegation that multi-crewing means there is no attachment to any boat.
Under the multi-crewing concept, 21 crews rotate through 14 ships.
The crews are divided into four divisions with six crews in three of the divisions and three crews in the fourth division.
Three of the divisions - Attack, Assail and Aware - are based in Darwin and one - Ardent - in Cairns.
Crews remain together and are not rotated through divisions other than the one to which they are assigned.
At any given time, two of the crews in a division will not be attached to a ship.
During their non operational time, crew will either be on leave, undergoing training or standing by to act as operational relief for another crew.
Although multi-crewing is in its infancy, Defence says it is already delivering benefits such as reduced duties in harbour, reduced training shortfalls, improved levels of individual readiness, and new opportunities for respite such as adventure and vocational training, and familiarisation with other ADF units such as NORFORCE.
In the Fremantle class, attachment to one boat meant unpredictable programs all-year around, involvement in all maintenance activity, and keeping harbour duties whenever in port.
"The days of single-crewing patrol boats are over; the benefits of multi-crewing far outweigh the perception of a loss of attachment to a particular boat," Defence states.
On the nose
An incident in August 2006 in which four sailors inhaled toxic fumes while they slept aboard HMAS Maitland in Darwin harbour has been provisionally attributed by Defence to improper operation of the sewage treatment plant rather than to a technical fault.
The incident occurred in the so-called austere accommodation compartment, which is used for visitors to the ship or to house illegal fishermen.
The compartment is isolated from normal crew working areas and accommodation.
"Continuous monitoring and weekly reporting of compartment air quality has confirmed the effectiveness of the revised procedures and the probable elimination of the hazard", a Defence statement said.
However, use of the compartment as a sleeping space is still banned until technical feasibility studies into possible design changes are completed and any subsequent configuration changes can be implemented.
Intermittent problems with a toilet blockage in the same compartment has not posed a safety hazard, but the system has been isolated while design changes are developed and implemented.
Although vacuum suction toilets in crew accommodation have operated reliably, one standard gravity type common use toilet has performed "less than optimally" and a modification is on trial.
Responding to reports of overcrowded shore establishments, Defence acknowledged short-term disruption and inconvenience in Cairns and Darwin, but pointed out that base redevelopments now underway would provide substantial benefits.
Copyright - Australian Defence Magazine, December 2007/January 2008