Another navy sub forced to dry-dock because of crew shortages
Mark Dodd and Matthew Franklin | September 11, 2008
THE Royal Australian Navy is set to move the fourth of its six Collins-class submarines into dry dock because of crew shortages, undermining Kevin Rudd's plans for a massive upgrade in naval resources to counter a military build-up inAsia.
Crew shortages have put a fourth sub in dock and undermined plans for naval expansion.
Defence analysts warned yesterday that severe skills shortages meant the navy could not crew its existing vessels, let alone new assets proposed by the Prime Minister in a major speech to the Returned and Services League on Tuesday night.
Mr Rudd told the RSL that financial prosperity in the Asian region was fuelling an arms race and that Australia must respond by upgrading its military forces, particularly the RAN, which has just 37 vessels, including six submarines.
While Mr Rudd mentioned no particular nations, his comments have been widely interpreted as a warning about China's continuing expansion of its navy, particularly its fleet of nuclear submarines.
As Mr Rudd intensified his language yesterday, saying Australia needed to be a "maritime power" and protect its shipping lanes to maintain trade, defence analyst Allan Behm said the RAN was struggling to retain highly skilled technicians.
Mr Behm, a consultant to universities and the defence industry, said that with three Collins-class submarines now inoperable because of crew shortages, the navy faced the real prospect of mothballing another within six months.
"This is now a real problem for the submarines and somebody has to be brought to account," Mr Behm told The Australian.
"(Chief of Navy) Vice-Admiral Russell Crane has a big task ahead."
Lowy Institute fellow and Australian National University professor Hugh White accused the Government of failing to demand action from senior Defence officials.
"Defence and navy has not delivered the capability required of them," Professor White said.
"Imagine what would happen if this was BHP and half their truck fleet was out of service."
Replying to questions from The Australian, Defence last night did not deny the allegations and defended its crewing arrangements to protect its submariners from stress.
"The RAN has over 400 submarine-qualified personnel. Not all six submarines need tobe crewed at any one time asa proportion of the force is inmaintenance," it said in a statement.
"Crewing every submarine would not be the best long-term outcome as this would impose stress on the workforce.
"The number of submarines that are crewed therefore varies to ensure the longer term sustainability of the workforce."
The Australian revealed in March the RAN was suffering a 37 per cent shortfall in its crewing requirements for the Collins Class submarines and had been forced to slash the number of sailing days for the fleet for the third time in as many years.
The Government recently offered the elite crews bonuses of up to $60,000 if they extended their service an extra 18 months. The Collins Class submarines require a bare minimum of 45 sailors to crew the warship of whom 50 per cent are highly qualified technicians.
In Townsville yesterday Mr Rudd acknowledged the RAN had manpower shortages in 24 different skills categories.
"We must, as a matter of priority, start to rebuild those skills deficits," Mr Rudd said.
"That's right now before we talk about any enhanced naval capability."
But Mr Rudd insisted his Government would work through the problems because it must meet the Asian military build-up.
"We are looking at a time in the Asia-Pacific region and world history where for the first time in several hundred years we are going to have powers other than Anglo-Saxon powers who will be dominant players in the world," Mr Rudd said.
"Therefore Australia must be prepared through its diplomacy, through its foreign policy and through its defence policy."
Dismissing suggestions his comments could be inflammatory, Mr Rudd linked the need to a strong navy to the maintenance of its international trade.
"When we look at places like this where we have huge exports going to the rest of the world, we must be in a position in the future to defend Australia's own sea lines of communication," Mr Rudd said.
"If we are going to defend our sea lines of communication to the rest of the world, we have got to make sure that we have got the naval capability to underpin that.
"We are either serious about Australia as a maritime power into the 21st century or we're not."
Mr Rudd said the navy would need to plan for new ships "subsurface and surface" and to invest in personnel to operate the new hardware.
Mr Rudd refused to speculate on whether his Government would lift defence spending to fund the military build-up. He said he would await the publication of his Government's Defence white paper before considering funding but had guaranteed real annual growth of 3 per cent in defence spending for the next 10 years.
Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson said Mr Rudd was all talk and no action.
"If he's concerned about the arms race and wanting to build up the navy, why will he not make a decision and announce that we will build a fourth air warfare destroyer," Dr Nelson told ABC radio.
He rejected Mr Rudd's criticisms of the Howard government's record on skills, saying the defence force was stronger and more modern now than when John Howard took office in 1996.
And he pointed out the white paper, which was to have been released this year, would be delayed until next year.
Obtained from
http://http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24327700-2702,00.html
Good to see some more spin about the Collins. It's not totally true, yes Collins in going onto the slip at Henderson in a couple of months until after Xmas, but it is due to having a bottom scrap and other maintenence, not due to crewing issues. Waller is currently around uptop on exercises, Farncomb doing trials off SA and Collins playing in the WAXA. The other 3 are in varying stages of going through their CS upgrade. The submariners are hurting in numbers, but to say that the subs are in mothballs for this reason is just plain bollocks. Not sure if they deserve an extra 60 grand for their troubles, wouldn't get me changing over though, I like the thought of blue sky above my head
Cheers
