Island Crown is to be transformed to a minehunting mothership
The U.Okay. has once more used conversion of an current offshore business vessel as a way of getting a wanted naval asset in place in a rush. It has bought the 2013-built UT 776 CD design PSV Island Crown from the Chouest and Ulstein households’ Island Offshore for conversion to a minehunting “mother ship.” In that function it is going to be used to launch drones to search out and destroy undersea threats.
The ship arrived in Plymouth, Devon, yesterday, lower than two weeks after the arrival on the Cammell Laird shipyard in Birkenhead of the subsea development vessel Topaz Tangaroa, which is to be transformed to a Multi-Role Ocean Surveillance (MROS) vessel to guard subsea pipelines and cables.
When delivered by the Vard Brevik shipyard in 2013, the Island Crown was geared up for capabilities corresponding to subsea development and Remotely Operated Vehicle operations and the U.Okay. Ministry of Defence says that it might want to go bear solely minimal conversion work, primarily to help set up of navy communication methods and Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) operations, earlier than being handed over to the RFA later this 12 months.
Purchased from Island Offshore for GBP 40 million (about $50 million) the vessel will probably be renamed earlier than becoming a member of the RFA.
Based at His Majesty’s Naval Base Clyde, the 96.8 meter lengthy vessel will probably be fitted with uncrewed methods that can embody the joint French-U.Okay. Maritime Mine Counter Measures (MMCM) system, the Combined Influence Sweep (SWEEP) system and Medium Underwater Autonomous Vehicles (MAUVs).
“The delivery of this ship is an important step in the Navy’s transformation to conducting mine countermeasures using distributed offboard systems-of-systems,” stated Commodore Steve Prest, Director Navy Acquisition. “The ship will be used to extend the range of our Maritime Autonomous Systems from coastal waters to conducting offshore survey operations in defense of the homeland.”
