Royal New Zealand Navy cannibalising own ship in Auckland to bring home frigate stuck in Sydney

The Royal New Zealand Navy is having to cannibalise one of its own ships for a spare part, to bring home a frigate stranded in Australia.

The HMNZS Te Mana is stuck in port in Sydney because an essential component of its communication system failed.

Stuff understands the navy has had to strip the part required from the HMNZS Te Kaha, which is dry-docked at Devonport for maintenance.

The part will have to be flown to Australia.

The component is part of a system used to make ship-wide announcements, and without it, crew would not be able to communicate in an emergency, such as a fire or flood.

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The component is manufactured by North American contractor Lockheed Martin and cannot easily be replaced.

A Defence Force source, who asked not to be named, said the navy had chosen not to purchase spares.

Despite being an Anzac-class frigate, similar to those shared with the Australian navy, the component is specific to New Zealand ships and cannot be sourced in Sydney.

That’s because in 2018 when the navy upgraded some systems, it chose to align with technology used by the Canadian navy. No Canadian vessels are currently close by to assist Te Mana.

The source said that it was common practice to cannibalise parts from ships in the navy, even when spare parts were available. That’s because it’s faster than filling out the required paperwork to bring parts out of storage.

However, they said it was “a bit embarrassing” that a navy ship had been caught out without a spare while in foreign waters.

A navy spokesperson would not confirm Stuff’s information about Te Mana’s stranding, citing “reasons of operational security”.

They said Te Mana was in Sydney for a planned training exercise and was “carrying out rectification of a defect”.

The replacement part was en route and had been taken from a ship that was undergoing maintenance. Therefore, there had been no impact to navy operations, they said.

National Party defence spokesman Tim van de Molen said it was “concerning” to think a navy frigate was laid up in foreign waters.

“You can’t have every piece of kit on board, but spares should be on hand at home base, especially if it is such a critical component that the ship cannot leave.”

Van de Molen said he was disappointed New Zealand’s defence budget was less than 1% of GDP, while members of Nato were spending at least 2%.

New Zealand has the fourth-largest exclusive economic zone in the world and under increasing pressure from illegal fishing, he said.

In May, Defence Minister Peeni Henare announced that the Defence Force would receive $662.5 million to “maintain existing defence capabilities”.

“The significant funding boost for depreciation expenses will ensure that the defence force’s existing capabilities are maintained and support its people and infrastructure,” Henare said.

It’s not the first time the Defence Force has experienced issues overseas. In 2019, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was stuck in Australia after the air force jet which was going to fly her home, broke down.

Ardern instead had to travel on a commercial flight, while the air force had to send another plane to deliver the needed part to Australia.