Future of soon-to-be retired OPV's?

[Herald]

The Aoife will be fairly impact-full on the Maltese though, considering it'll take 2% of their whole Armed Forces to man her.
I couldn't find any numbers for the Naval squadron, but guessing that its about 10% of the overall number, then its about 230 naval types, again the numbers are fairly high, the Aoife would require 20% of their manpower.

[northie]

Only officially have a 'navy' since 1971....had we known them to want to become a naval force back then we could have donated the corvettes!

And from the last photo they could have used a few 'spare' Allouettes

After that boat had sailed -ie our disposal of said aircraft the maltese came looking for any spares if we had them. Eurocopter have them over the barrell and are screwing them without lube for parts etc.
They want the allouette gone as the cost of support has become silly and Eurocopter won't stand over non genuine parts for obvious reasons.

[danno]

You have to wonder if the resistance is due to the fact that probably none of the Maltese Mariners have experience/quals/tickets for craft the size of P22 and fear they will end having to be rescued themselves or be exposed as plonkers.

[northie]

You have to wonder if the resistance is due to the fact that probably none of the Maltese Mariners have experience/quals/tickets for craft the size of P22 and fear they will end having to be rescued themselves or be exposed as plonkers.

Danno, the Malteasers are good blokes and are up for a challenge. They face a similar situation to us - they have a government that wants them to deliver first class services with a third rate budget and will target the military budget for savings if it can, as opposed to looking to other more wasteful departments. And yes, they are right to be worried - if they accept into service a second hand EOL vessel then a dangerous precendent will be set for the politicans and civil servants. The lads in the AFM and Maltese police are all good blokes, similar enough in mindset to ourselves. As has been stated they are getting a big new toy in a few years but need something to plug the gap in the meantime - they're pragmatic enough, however a vessel would be an easy "cut" to make if savings need to be found elsewhere and they have sufficient (ie Aoife) vessell that will do!

If you do a bit of facebook stalking of the Offical DF pages and AFM pages you'll notice that few of the officers in the Maltese Maritime squadron completed the Irish Standard Cadet Course.

[Orion]

Silly question but who initiated the whole idea Ireland or Malta?

Would have thought the initial request must have come from Malta??

[northie]

Silly question but who initiated the whole idea Ireland or Malta?

Would have thought the initial request must have come from Malta??

Probably the ministers having a few pints together and thinking they could get a winwin out of it tbh!

[danno]

Lets put the boot on the other foot.There have been a series of serious loss of life incidents off the Irish coast and the lack of an ETV is sorely exposed.Shell,as a token of gratitude for the NS doing guardship for the pipeline offer the State a 30 odd year old ETV (no longer needed/EOL albeit in good condition , in class,full survey,no asbestos etc and fit for purpose.Shoud/would the NS accept same to be in a position to respond and avoid loss of life (a point seemingly not relevant in the Malta furore) or should the offer be treated as an insult .....Over.

[na grohmiti]

A closer analogy would be this.
There is currently no direct flights from Ireland to Africa.
The Nigerian Air Force offer Ryanair a second hand Boeing 737 to open such a route.

[hptmurphy]

A closer analogy would be this.
There is currently no direct flights from Ireland to Africa.
The Nigerian Air Force offer Ryanair a second hand Boeing 737 to open such a route.

For returning persons to Nigeria...jump at it!!!

[DeV]

If you do a bit of facebook stalking of the Offical DF pages and AFM pages you'll notice that few of the officers in the Maltese Maritime squadron completed the Irish Standard Cadet Course.

Maybe they should starting sending guys to NMCI instead of the DFTC

[na grohmiti]

Its all part of the deal. No point putting people on a 2 year deck officer course unless he has a ship to go to.

[northie]

Maybe they should starting sending guys to NMCI instead of the DFTC

They all complete the standard cadetship in Malta, then are dispersed for foriegn armies for further training and then are allocated their service branch on return home. Apparently attempting to send a guy to the NMCI failed - he resigned rather than stay there the two years or so the legend goes.

[Boreas]

...the AFM... said reports quoting a point of view “claiming to be of AFM personnel” did not reflect “in any way” the army’s position.

“The Armed Forces of Malta welcomes assistance from other nations (as it has done) by way of supply of assets that would in any way enhance its operational capabilities without further limiting other resources,” the army said.

It added the vessel was needed until a new offshore patrol vessel could be acquired, saying the support in addressing the shortfall in the interim was appreciated. The vessel was well suited for its intended purpose and “will surely provide further means for the squadron to fulfil its roles and responsibilities”.

Some PR/damage control from the AFM in today's Times of Malta http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles...iticism.557712

[hptmurphy]

DFTC makes them officers, not Sailors, Sailors first , then qualify as an officer.

[Medsailor]

Finally allowed to post! So gents, as someone on the receiving end (of the ship and your comments!) here's my 5 cents worth.
1. We are not a Navy and have never called ourselves such. We are the maritime component of the combined force that is the AFM.
2. The ALIII on the deck of P61 in the picture is one of the airframes we bought from the Dutch Airforce for spares. It was embarked to allow our deck personnel to familiarise themselves with helo handling. The final results can be seen at http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles...-at-sea.507602
3. Despite the BS in the press, we are very happy with the Irish decision to transfer Aiofe to the AFM. We are not a coastal/inshore force, we regularly have to operated 200NM+ offshore which is no fun in 26-metre boats. Nor is embarking 450+ rescued persons on the helo deck of P61. So Aiofe fits the bill fine as far as we are concerned, at least until such time as a new and bespoke OPV (hopefully) comes on line in 4-5 years time.
4. Despite being totally confused by Aiofe's cruiser stern (isn't the pointy bit at the front ??) we do actually know how to drive boats....