[PSUBS-MAILIST] Same boat....

[Coalbunny <coalbunny@wyoming.com>]

Plus , They need a Computer Tech...

The Independent

Saturday: Canadians buy submarine from MoD

Last night: Fire leaves vessel adrift in Atlantic

By Terry Kirby, Chief Reporter
06 October 2004

An air-sea rescue was under way in the North Atlantic last night after a
fire on a former British submarine sold to Canada in a controversial
deal left the vessel drifting at sea.

The incident will come as a huge embarrassment for the Ministry of
Defence, coming only four days after the vessel was formally handed over
to the Canadians. It was the last of four such submarines bought in a
deal dogged by escalating costs, delays and reports of corrosion, leaks,
turbine breakdowns and other technical faults encountered during their
refits. Only one is on active service. Some reports have suggested that
Canada is considering suing Britain over the deal.

The blaze led to a loss of power on HMCS Chicoutimi about 100 miles
north-west of Ireland. Nine of its 57-strong crew suffered breathing
problems after smoke spread through the vessel. It had to surface to
clear the fumes and the injured were being treated on board.

A senior Canadian official, speaking at 6pm British time yesterday, said
a towing vessel, the HMS Montrose, a Type-23 frigate, would take between
12 to 14 hours to reach the submarine. "The boat is without power and
has only limited means of communicating," Navy Commodore Tyrone Pyle
told reporters in Halifax. He said there had been no danger of losing
the craft.

Another Canadian navy spokesman said the rescue operation was being
blighted by the weather. "The seas are extremely treacherous, with six
to eight metre waves and winds of 35 knots," he said. "It's going to be
extremely difficult for the ships to make it out there and the sailors
[on the submarine] are getting tossed to and fro something crazy. They
will have a certain amount of battery-powered emergency lighting, but
will be trying to conserve it."

The rescue would also be difficult, he said. "It's going to be extremely
dangerous for someone to be on board that frigate throwing a line and
even more dangerous for someone from the submarine crew to be outside
trying to tie that up."

The spokesman said the root of the fire had been an electrical panel in
a passageway. The navy had assembled investigation teams, "but our main
focus right now is to keep those 57 people safe".

Formerly HMS Upholder, the submarine is a non-nuclear diesel electric
"hunter-killer" vessel built for the Royal Navy in the early 1990s. The
submarine left the naval base at Faslane in Scotland on Monday heading
for Halifax, Nova Scotia, where it was due to arrive on 18 October.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said events were being monitored second
by second. He added: "The decision on evacuation has to be balanced
against the consequence of leaving the vessel without a crew."

An RAF Nimrod from Kinloss was in the area to help with communications,
while a Royal Navy search and rescue helicopter flew from Prestwick.
Ireland's Minister for Defence, Willie O'Dea, said the LE Roisin, which
was on routine patrol off the north-west coast, should arrive at the sub
about midnight. It would offer help and monitor any threats to Irish
waters.

The Royal Fleet Auxiliary Wave Knight, a fleet replenishment vessel, was
also standing by.

The four submarines were designed in the 1970s and built in the late
1980s and early 1990s. They were deemed surplus to requirements before
work was completed after Britain decided to use only nuclear-powered
vessels. The C$750m (£333m) deal to sell them to Canada was agreed in
1998. But according to reports in Canada, the total cost of the deal has
now risen by 20 per cent to C$897m, as a result of technical faults and
rust, which caused particular problems on the Chicoutimi.

Documents released under the Canadian freedom of information laws
suggest that the MoD "cannibalised" the submarine for spare parts to get
the three other vessels in working order. One suggested that the
Canadians were forced to pay for an extra 5,500 replacement parts.

The delivery of the Chicoutimi was delayed by corrosion on its
pressure-hull and the replacement of cracked hull valves and air turbine
pumps.

A Canadian navy incident report said crews faced "a potential safety
risk" and that computer systems "freeze" and lose data. When equipment
did work, it did so at a speed "unsuitable for operational conditions".

{ In other words, they're using Windows :)  }

BAE, which undertook the refit, has defended the delays, saying the
submarines had been in the water for a long period. It declined to
comment last night.

Of the four other submarines, HMCS Windsor, formerly HMS Unicorn, is the
only one in service. HMCS Corner Brook, formerly HMS Ursula, is being
repaired, while HMCS Victoria, formerly HMS Unseen, is to undergo sea
trials this autumn.

  © 2004 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd


--
The very existence of flame-throwers proves that some time, somewhere, 
someone said to themselves, "You know, I want to set those people over 
there on fire, but I'm just not close enough to get the job done...."






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