Armscor, according to Defence and Military Veterans Minister Angie Motshekga, has initiated “tripartite engagements to arrest further decline” in completing the build of the new SA Navy (SAN) hydrographic vessel.
This assurance was given to Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) public representative Carl Niehaus in search of reasons for what he termed an inordinate delay in “an extremely important project”.
Delays, ranging from COVID-19 pandemic restrictions and the 2021 bout of unrest and rioting in KwaZulu-Natal, impacted on the build of a new hydrographic vessel for the SA Navy (SAN). These have seen changes to the delivery date with March next year currently the latest available.
The written Motshekga reply to the Niehaus question has it that the “tripartite engagements” involve the State-owned defence acquisition and project management company, the main contractor (Sandock Austral) and major sub-contractors.
“Talks,” she informed him last month (November), “are underway to establish a system integration committee with the sole objective of executing the current project to completion in the most efficient and cost effective manner in accordance with project requirements”. The talks will see terms of reference to “clearly map a way forward” drafted.
The SAS Protea (A324) replacement will sail as SAS Nelson Mandela (A187) when she is accepted into the SAN fleet on successful completion of operational testing and evaluation (OTE), also known as sea trials.
Ship construction of the Nelson Mandela, to the Vard Marine 9 105 design, is the major component of Project Hotel, entered into in December 2017, with acquisition of three survey motorboats, a sea boat and an upgrade to the SAN Hydrographic Office (HO) at Silvermine. The new hydrographic vessel and auxiliaries, including the shore-based component, is costed at R2.7 billion.
The 95 metre long SAS Nelson Mandela will, when complete, have a strengthened bow with a view to operations in the Southern Ocean, a range of 10 000 nautical miles and an 18 knot top speed. Advanced survey equipment aboard will include multi and single beam echo-sounders, a side-scan sonar and seabed sampler to recover seafloor material and underlying sub-strata for detailed analytical and testing purposes.
