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The Naval Service will more than halve the age of its eight-vessel fleet when the third ship in a €162m order is delivered by 2016.

The news came as the Navy's second new vessel, LE James Joyce, is now concluding sea trials and will be delivered within weeks for commissioning in May.

A sister ship to the LE Samuel Beckett which was delivered last year, LE James Joyce was built at Babcock Marine's shipyard in north Devon.

A third vessel, the order for which was confirmed by Taoiseach Enda Kenny, is now under construction and is scheduled for a late 2016 delivery.

The delivery of the as-yet-unnamed third offshore patrol vessel will dramatically reduce the age profile of the navy's Haulbowline-based fleet.

Literary

The vessel, like its sister ships, is expected to be named after an Irish literary figure.

The third new vessel will see five of the navy's main patrol vessels having entered the fleet since 1999.

At a cost of €54m each, the new vessels are the most hi-tech ever operated by the Naval Service and are capable of handling advanced technology such as drones and robotic submarines.

The LE Samuel Beckett replaced the 35-year-old LE Emer which was sold at auction in October 2013 to an African consortium.

The LE James Joyce will replace the LE Aoife (1979) which was decommissioned last January and has now been donated to the Maltese navy.

Each of the new ships are developments of the original design chosen for the LE Roisin/LE Niamh in 1997.

Naval Service officials confirmed that the new ships will dramatically increase the technological capacity of the Navy both in terms of surveillance and incident response times.

The ability to operate drones, which are already used by the Defence Forces, will also dramatically increase the navy's patrol and surveillance capabilities.

Each ship can similarly operate remotely controlled mini- submarines.

The new vessels are 12m bigger at 90m in overall length than the old LE Roisin/Niamh design. With a top speed of 23 knots, the new ships will also be over 30pc faster than the ageing vessels they replace.

The Government has insisted the deal represented exceptional value for money with shipyards offering cut-price contracts as they battle for orders.

obsolete

Defence minister Simon Coveney warned that Ireland cannot afford to revert to the "bad old days" of the 1940s and '50s when the Naval Service was totally reliant on a fleet of ageing and obsolete former Royal Navy corvettes. It is expected that the third new ship will replace LE Aisling (1980), which will have seen 36 years of service.

When all three are commissioned, the oldest ship in service will then be the LE Eithne (1984).

LE Eithne will also be the only remaining vessel in the fleet which was built in Ireland.

The three craft are the first new ships commissioned for the Naval Service since the LE Roisin (1999) and LE Niamh (2001) which displace 1,500 tonnes.

The Irish Naval Service (INS) has taken delivery of the first of two offshore patrol vessels (OPVs), built by Babcock Marine's Appledore shipyard under a GBP82 million (USD137 million) contract.

The 1,900-tonne vessel, LE Samuel Beckett , was handed over to the INS on 28 April and will enter service later this year after a period of trials. The vessel will be based at Haulbowline in County Cork.

Ireland ordered two Samuel Beckett-class vessels in October 2010, with an option for a third. The second will be named LE James Joyce , with the vessels replacing the Roisin-class OPVs, in service since the late 1990s.

Kelvin Hughes, a world leader in the design and supply of navigation and surveillance systems, is delighted to announce that the Irish Naval Service has selected the SharpEye™ radar and the MantaDigital™ display for the incremental upgrade of its fleet.

Ships of the Irish Naval Service operate in some of the harshest maritime conditions, including the North Atlantic, and the decision in favour of SharpEye™ was strongly influenced by the enhanced situational awareness that the radar system can provide, particularly in adverse conditions and high sea states. Under the terms of the contract, the upgrades will take place over a three year period as vessels become available for or require a refit.

Available in both I and E/F band frequencies, the SharpEye™ radar system represents a radical and innovative departure from current marine navigation radar technology in that it has no magnetron and uses a coherent transmission, making it capable of separating small targets from clutter due to their differing radial velocity components. The MantaDigital™ workstation is a multi-function display platform, which can host radar, ECDIS and conning functionality on a wide-screen display surface.

Rohan Dearlove, Kelvin Hughes’ Head of Sales Central Region, commented: “We’re delighted to be working with the Irish Naval Service with whom we have had a long association. The enhanced performance of SharpEye™ will undoubtedly enable the Service’s vessels to operate more effectively.”

The Republic of Ireland is to give an offshore patrol vessel to Malta to help it cope with the migration crisis. 

Defence Minister Simon Coveney agreed to give the recently decommissioned Le Aoife to Malta following a meeting in Latvia with Home Affairs and National Security Minister Carmelo Abela in the margins of the informal meeting of EU Defence Ministers.

“The Maltese authorities require the ship for their armed forces to assist in the patrolling of the Mediterranean Sea to deal with the ongoing difficult refugee crisis in the region. Recent tragic events in that part of the Mediterranean have underlined the significant challenges which need to be addressed by the international community and Ireland is very keen to play an active part in this regard,” Mr Coveney was quoted as saying as The Irish Examiner.  

“I welcome this very important contribution from Ireland which will help in bridging a gap in Malta’s naval capacity pending our future acquisition of a new offshore patrol vessel,” Mr Abela said.  

Le Aoife, which is 65.2m long and has a displacement of 1019.5 tonnes, will be the biggest vessel to join the maritime squadron of the Armed Forces of Malta.

It was built 35 years ago and used mostly on fishery protection duties but is also sailed in other parts of the world including the Mediterranean to supply Irish troops involved in UN missions. It was in Malta in 2007.

The ship was the oldest in the Irish Navy and sailed in excess of 600,000 nautical miles. Its crew has boarded over 4,700 vessels at sea and detained over 440 fishing vessels. It was decommissioned last month.

The ministers also discussed further cooperation including in the training of Maltese personnel in Ireland and future potential operations, building on the successful joint training team Malta and Ireland provided to the EU Training Mission in Somalia.

An Taoiseach and Minister for Defence Mr. Enda Kenny, T.D. announced this morning that an order has been placed with Babcock Marine for the 3rd Offshore Patrol Vessel for the Naval Service. A vessel replacement strategy for the Naval Service has been in progress since 2007 to provide for the replacement of existing vessels some of which are over 30 years old. Following completion of a tender competition, Babcock Marine was selected for the purchase of two Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs) with an option on a third.

AROUND 100 people gathered to watch an Irish Navy ship launch from Appledore shipyard yesterday (Sun).

The ship, named LÉ Samuel Beckett after the world renowned Irish literary figure, floated out of Babcock Marine just before 5pm.

LÉ Samuel Beckett was played out by the Appledore Town Band as a lull in the wind allowed the operation to go ahead.

The ship is 90 metre long and 14 metres wide.

During the float out, the band played the Irish National Anthem and the ship was blessed and cheered on its way.

The Irish Naval Service's two new 90 m offshore patrol vessels (OPVs) will achieve key milestones in November when Babcock Marine launches the first of class and stages a keel laying ceremony for the second ship.

Lead ship LÈ Samuel Beckett will enter the water at the shipbuilder's Appledore yard in southern England on 3 November, a Babcock representative told IHS Jane's at the DSEI exhibition on 11 September. This will be followed by a keel laying ceremony for the second ship on 4 November.

Under current scheduling, LÈ Samuel Beckett is on track to be handed over to the Irish Naval Service in February 2014, with delivery of the second ship expected in February 2015, Babcock said.

The two OPVs are being built under a EUR99 million (USD131.4 million) contract awarded to Babcock in October 2010 under Ireland's Naval Service Patrol Vessel Replacement programme. They will replace the navy's three ageing 65 m P21-class OPVs, which were built by Verolme in Cork in the second half of the 1970s and entered service between 1978 and 1980.

The ships are based on STX Marine's PV 90 design, which is a lengthened variant of the PV 80 design employed for the two 1,700-ton Roisin-class OPVs built by Appledore Shipbuilders for the INS between 1998 and 2001.

Displacing around 1,933 tonnes, the OPVs will be fitted with a diesel-electric propulsion system that provide a top speed of 23 kt, cruise speed of 15 kt, and range of up to 6,000 n miles. Endurance is 21 days. Accommodation is provided for a complement of 44 crew, plus 10 trainees.

Armament - which is being procured under a separate contract worth EUR7.8 million - consists of an Oto Melara 76 mm/62 gun, two 20 mm cannons, and four general purpose machine guns (two 12.7 mm and two 7.62 mm).

A helicopter in-flight refuelling facility and stowage for three 20 ft containers will be provided on the aft deck. Although this deck is not intended to provide a landing pad for helicopters, the operation of unmanned aerial vehicles may be considered in the future.

The vessels are designed to provide an operational capability for up to 30 years of service in their main area of operation in the North Atlantic, out to the 200 n mile limit of Ireland's Exclusive Economic Zone and beyond. Patrol duties will include fishery protection, search and rescue, maritime protection, drug interdiction, anti-pollution, and maritime security missions.

An option for a third OPV may be exercised at a later date.