A transformed offshore assist vessel has taken on a brand new life as a devoted underwater surveillance ship for the U.Ok.’s Royal Navy.
Christened throughout a ceremony in London on October 10, RFA Proteus might be operated by the Royal Fleet Auxiliary as a launchpad for remotely operated underwater automobiles (ROV) and a house to a collection of specialist capabilities much like these discovered within the offshore oil and gasoline trade.
The ship, in-built 2017 as a subsea building vessel named Topaz Tangaroa, was acquired by the U.Ok. Ministry of Protection in January and transformed at Cammell Laird for its new function as a Multi-Position Ocean Surveillance Ship (MROSS). Proteus is supplied with a flight deck and a 1,000-square-meter cargo deck, plus a heavy-duty crane for lifting and reducing operations.
The 6,000-tonne vessel left Merseyside in September to bear trials and coaching off Portland earlier than heading to London for its official entry into service.
The ship is crewed by 26 Royal Fleet Auxiliary officers and sailors, augmented by 60 Royal Navy specialists chargeable for the undersea surveillance, survey and warfare programs. The U.Ok. can even use the ship as a testbed for advancing science and technological improvement.
Proteus is certainly one of two vessels acquired by the MOD in an effort to higher defend seabed telecommunications cables and oil and gasoline pipelines amid ongoing struggle in Ukraine.
“It’s paramount, at a time once we face Putin’s unlawful invasion of Ukraine, that we prioritize capabilities that may defend our essential nationwide infrastructure,” U.Ok. Protection Minister Ben Wallace stated earlier this yr.
The second vessel, RFA Stirling Fort—one other former offshore assist vessel, beforehand named Island Crown—underwent modification to develop into a mom ship for crewless minehunting programs.
