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DEAT Signs Agreement for Four Protection Vessels |
| Issued | Pretoria |
| Date | 2002-09-17 |
| Reporter | Sapa |
The Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism announced on Tuesday that it had signed agreements with South African and Dutch shipyards for the construction of four fishery and environmental protection vessels.
According to a departmental statement Farocean Marine would build three 47-metre inshore vessels and the Dutch Damen Shipyards would build an 80-metre offshore vessel.
The inshore vessels would carry 13 crew members and two fishery inspectors.
They would have a range of 3 500 nautical miles at a speed of 15 knots and would be capable of remaining at sea for 14 days.
Top speed will be in excess of 20 knots (37 km/h).
In addition to its fishery protection duties, these vessels would also be equipped to conduct oil spill countermeasure operations, as well as search and rescue work, fire fighting and limited towing duties.
They would be certified for operations up to 200 nautical miles from the shore, although the bulk of their work would be closer.
The offshore vessel would carry 22 crew members and up to seven fishery inspectors.
It would have a range of 7 500 nautical miles at 15 knots (27,75 km/h) and would be able to remain at sea for up to 45 days.
Top speed would also be in excess of 20 knots.
The vessel would have a helicopter deck and would be capable of refuelling these at sea.
In addition it would be equipped with a small hospital and facilities for accommodating survivors in the event of a maritime disaster.
The ship would be classified for unrestricted service and would be deployed for duties off Marion and Prince Edward Islands.
All four the vessels would operate around the entire coastline. Their deployment will be based on information gained from land, sea and aerial surveillance, co-ordinated by the department's operations centre in Cape Town.
The offshore vessel and the first inshore vessel would be commissioned within two years.
The agreements followed a lengthy tender process that began in 1999, to which 32 shipyards from 14 countries originally responded. Tenders were issued in June 2001.
With acknowledgement to Sapa.