Page 24 - Signal Winter 2019

| FROM CONCEPT TO DELIVERY |
The hull of the L.E. George Bernard Shaw taking shape in Babcock Marine Appledore.
Commission Trials consisted of two stages. The first being Builders Trials where the shipyard took the ship to sea for a series of trials to run up and commission all equipment and systems. This was followed by an Owners Trials in which the shipyard were required to display to the NS that all systems operated as per the Technical Specifications. Throughout this period I was responsible for the co-ordination of NS provided crew, observation of all test, reporting of all defects and developing a warranty programme.
On completion of all Sea Trials LÉ was delivered to the Irish Naval Service on the 11th of October 2018.
What was the most rewarding aspect of your work on this project?
The most rewarding part of the project for me, would have to be, seeing flat steel sheets and boxed equipment arrive on site and in less than 25 months having delivery a fully operational ship to the Irish Naval Service which will be in service for the next 35 years.
How has the vessel performed to date and what have been some of the operational challenges you have had to overcome?
Since acceptance of LÉ George Bernard Shaw by the Department of Defence and the Irish Naval Service the ship entered a 1 year Warranty Programme. This programme covered every
component of the vessel. Due to this defined period and the NS desire to have the ship achieve Full Operational Capability the Officers and Crew have pushed the ship hard, working up to the standards required for the various operations required of us. As such these tests and trials stressed all systems and equipment to the levels of required during life operations. During these exercises and trials, mishaps and malfunctions of equipment did occur in minor cases, resulting in equipment replacement and/ or Service Engineer attendance. When taking into account the complex nature of a warship build and systems overlay this was not to be unexpected.
In terms of work as an engineer, how different is your work on the newer vessels as opposed to the more aged vessels in the flotilla?
Onboard the newer vessels the majority of systems have either full or partial automation. When compared with older ships this level of automation was not in existence at the time of build. However, with these differences there is not a decrease in workload as if automated system are not maintained the system/equipment will not operate resulting in failures and when compared with the older ships, hands on operation is required which by its nature is labour intensive. Also the size of the vessels in this case LÉ George Bernard Shaw is a 2256 gross tonnage Operational Patrol Vessel (OPV) where as my last ship LÉ Ciara was a 763 gross tonnage Coastal Patrol Vessel (CPV). When taking into account the size difference, the difference in roles between CPV and OPV, the OPV is required to operate hundreds of miles off
24 | | WINTER ‘19 |