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A Royal Australian Navy Sea King
helicopter lands on the aft flight deck of the Royal Australian Navy amphibious
ship HMAS Kanimbla (L 51) during the at-sea phase of Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC)
2010 exercises
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A scuttled warship off Port Stephens
could help turn NSW into a world-class diving destination, the area's tourism
body says.
Port Stephens Tourism has applied this
week to the Department of Defence with plans to sink a decommissioned ship in
the port between 2012 and 2020.
The sunken ship would be used to create
an artificial reef and dive site in the same way as the HMAS Adelaide, which
was scuttled off Avoca
Beach
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HMAS Kanimbla
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It is understood the most likely site
for the proposed Port Stephens wreck would be north of Cabbage
Tree Island
in the Port Stephens Marine
Park
Port Stephens Tourism marketing manager
Tars Bylhouwer said the marine park's conservation requirements had helped with
formulating the application to Defence.
"Basically we used [marine park] requirements
as guidelines with what to include in our application," Mr Bylhouwer said.
While the Port Stephens region would be
too late to snag the next decommissioned warship, the HMAS Manoora, an ideal
target could be HMAS Kanimbla.
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HMAS Kanimbla at
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Mr Bylhouwer said HMAS Kanimbla was
more suitable for the Port Stephens timeframe as it was due for demolition
between next year and 2016.
The proposed dive site could become
part of a series of scuttled ships along the NSW coastline, Mr Bylhouwer said.
"If we can get a few ships up the
coast, suddenly NSW becomes a diving destination," he said.
Source: The Herald. By Matt Carr. 13 October 2011
HMAS Kanimbla:
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Career (
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Name:
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Namesake:
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Builder:
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Laid down:
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24 May 1969
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Launched:
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7 February 1970
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Sponsored by:
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Wife of R. James Harvey
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Commissioned:
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23 January 1971
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Decommissioned:
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28 June 1994
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Homeport:
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Fate:
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Transferred to the Royal Australian Navy in 1994
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Career (
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Name:
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HMAS Kanimbla
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Namesake:
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Commissioned:
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29 August 1994
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Homeport:
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Motto:
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"Cry Havoc"
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Honours and
awards: |
Battle honours:
Persian Gulf 2001–03 Iraq 2003 plus five inherited honours Awards: Meritorious Unit Citation |
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Status:
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Active as of 2011
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Source:
Wikipedia
Decommissioning of
HMAS Kanimbla:
The Minister for Defence, Stephen
Smith, and Minister for Defence Materiel, Jason Clare, today announced that the
amphibious ship HMAS Kanimbla would be decommissioned.
In September 2010 the Chief of Navy
imposed an operational pause on HMAS Ships Kanimbla due to seaworthiness
concerns.
Since then, Defence has assessed the
future of HMAS Kanimbla.
This included a detailed assessment of
the capability provided by HMAS Kanimbla, an assessment of its materiel state
and a cost and risk assessment.
The outcome of this assessment is that
the most cost effective and lowest risk option is to decommission HMAS
Kanimbla.
The cost to complete the extensive
remediation work required on HMAS Kanimbla is estimated to be up to $35
million.
HMAS Kanimbla would not on that basis
be available for operations until at least mid-2012. HMAS Kanimbla was
scheduled in any event to be decommissioned at the end of 2014.
It does not represent value for money
to therefore pursue further maintenance on HMAS Kanimbla.
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HMAS Kanimbla
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Accordingly, on the basis of advice and
recommendations from the Chief of Navy and the Chief Executive Officer of the
Defence Materiel Organisation, the Government has agreed to decommission HMAS
Kanimbla.
This announcement follows a number of
announcements relating to Navy’s amphibious capability in 2011.
In February the Government announced
that HMAS Manoora would be decommissioned on the advice of the Chief of Navy
that the ship was beyond economical repair to bring it back into operational
service, given the vessel’s remaining planned life.
HMAS Manoora was formally
decommissioned in May.
The Government also announced in February
that it was pursuing the acquisition of the United
Kingdom amphibious ship the RFA Largs Bay
In April the Government announced that
it had successfully acquired Largs
Bay
HMAS Choules is expected to arrive in Australia
HMAS Tobruk
HMAS Tobruk has been docked in Sydney
Defence has previously chartered the
P&O vessel Aurora Australis from May to 12 August to provide a humanitarian
assistance and disaster relief sealift response vessel.
HMAS Tobruk is currently in the final
phase of its scheduled maintenance period and is expected to be available for
sea for a short period of time from end August to early September before it
undergoes further scheduled and previously announced work to prepare it for the
cyclone season which commences in November.
To provide an amphibious transport
capability while HMAS Tobruk is prepared for cyclone season, Defence has
negotiated the availability of the Australian Customs Vessel Ocean Protector to
provide a humanitarian assistance and disaster relief sealift response vessel
from 12 August until 14 October 2011.
The Ocean Protector is in addition to
Australia’s agreement with New Zealand that the New Zealand amphibious lift
ship HMNZS Canterbury would be made available as part of the joint
Pacific-focused Ready Response Force, subject to any operational requirements
in New Zealand.
Navy continues to examine amphibious
transport ship options from 14 October in addition to HMAS Tobruk in the lead up
to the arrival of HMAS Choules at the end of this year.
Source: Sea
Waves Magazine. 17 August 2011
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