Hard-up Navy rents a ship from Norway: £40m bill to maintain presence in the Falklands

By Sam Greenhill for the Daily Mail
Updated:

Military chiefs who slashed back the Royal Navy to save money are now spending £40million to rent a ship from Norway.

The duties of the 5,000-ton vessel will include patrolling the waters around the Falkland Islands and the South Atlantic.

It will cost £26million to hire the ship for three years, and an estimated £13.2million to fit her out with specialist equipment, including communication systems and survey boats.

Rent-a-ship: The Norwegian vessel, to be names HMS Protector, docks at Portsmouth's Royal Naval Base for the first time on May 23

Rent-a-ship: The Norwegian vessel, to be names HMS Protector, docks at Portsmouth's Royal Naval Base for the first time on May 23

Military sources estimate the cost of fuel and crew could be up to £10million.

The decision comes on the heels of the deepest round of defence cuts for 40 years, which include the scrapping of the Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier Ark Royal, 5,000 Navy personnel posts and Britain’s entire force of Harrier jump jets.

The cuts have caused anger and dismay, with some senior military figures warning that Britain will be ill-equipped to fight a war for a decade, and slip further down the league of military powers despite action in Afghanistan and Libya.

Freshly painted: Two sailors look out from a viewpoint in HMS Protector as it docks in Portsmouth

Freshly painted: Two sailors look out from a viewpoint in HMS Protector as it docks in Portsmouth

A private Norwegian firm, G C Rieber Shipping, is supplying the rental ship, which will be commanded by the Royal Navy with a 76-strong crew.

Work on the vessel, to be called HMS Protector, will be carried out at the Royal Navy’s Portsmouth base, and she is due to be commissioned on June 23.

She will replace the ice patrol ship Endurance, which nearly sank in a disastrous incident in 2008. The engine room flooded and the 138 crew and passengers had to abandon ship off the coast of Chile.

Endurance was brought home on a transport ship and has been at Portsmouth since. It would cost about £30million to repair the stricken ship, or approximately ten times that to replace her.

Lord Astor said HMS Protector was a 'welcome arrival'

Support: Lord Astor said HMS Protector was a 'welcome arrival'

It was decided during last year’s strategic defence and security review (SDSR) to maintain a Royal Navy presence in the South Atlantic, and at present the role is being fulfilled by the survey ship HMS Scott.

However, MoD sources say she does not have the crucial ice-breaking capability to reach certain areas.

An MoD spokesman confirmed: ‘G C Rieber Shipping has been chosen as the preferred bidder to provide the vessel that will become the Royal Navy’s HMS Protector for an initial period of three years.

‘This follows the SDSR decision to maintain the ice patrol capability and will be a temporary measure until a decision is made about the future of HMS Endurance.’

The MoD said HMS Endurance was also leased from the Norwegians.

Lord Astor, Under Secretary of State for Defence, said: ‘The welcome arrival of HMS Protector will allow the UK to maintain its sovereign commitments in the South Atlantic pending a decision on the longer-term solution.

‘With her ice-breaking hydrographic survey and logistic capability, she will be able to operate very effectively in the challenging conditions that typify the Antarctic.’

Among Protector’s tasks will be conducting environmental inspections and giving logistical support to the British Antarctic Survey.

Charlotte Linacre of the TaxPayers’ Alliance said: ‘It’s surprising that £40million of taxpayers’ money is going to rent a ship.

‘After the rental is up, there will be nothing so show for it, so taxpayers will question whether this is the best use of their money.’

 

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