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Subject:
Crew shortage hits subs
Aussiegunneragain
3/9/2008 7:56:54 PM
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Font Size: Decrease Increase Print Page: Print Cameron Stewart | March 10, 2008
ONLY half of Australia's submarine fleet can be sent to war, because of a critical shortage of qualified submariners.
The crisis has left the Royal Australian Navy with only three full crews for its six Collins-class submarines, severely undermining the effectiveness of one of the nation's most vital and expensive defence assets.
"It's becoming a ghost fleet," said one submariner, who asked not to be named. "We are losing our crews - it feels like the Mary Celeste."
The Australian understands that the navy currently has a 37per cent shortfall in submarine crews - the highest on record for the $6 billion Collins-class fleet.
The shortfall has forced the navy to slash the number of sailing days for the fleet for the third time in as many years.
Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon, who has inherited a recruitment crisis across the Australian Defence Force, has pledged that the issue will be a first-order priority for the Rudd Government.
The submarine crew crisis comes at a time when the navy is unable to send its four FFG guided missile frigates to war because of a bungled $1.4 billion upgrade.
Last week's decision by the Government to axe the troubled $1 billion Seasprite helicopter program has also left the navy's Anzac-class frigates without a vital capability designed to protect them from hostile ships and submarines.
The Defence Department maintains that despite the "significant shortfall" in submarine crews, it still has enough to "meet operational requirements" for the submarines.
But Defence does not say if these operational tasks have been reduced in line with declining crew numbers.
Defence sources say the exodus of submariners - mostly to better-paid jobs in Western Australia's booming mining sector - has been stemmed in recent months, raising hopes that the worst may be over.
However, there is no sign of any recovery in crew numbers from current historical lows.
The navy requires about 45 sailors to crew a Collins-class submarine, but about 50 per cent of these need to be qualified technicians - the same skill sets required by cashed-up mining companies.
Despite offering a range of incentives to recruit and retain submariners - including substantially higher pay than other military personnel - the navy has struggled to retain its crews.
One or two of the six Collins submarines are in dock for maintenance at any one time, but the navy needs at least five full crews to give it the flexibility it requires to respond to a military crisis.
Three submarines - HMAS Dechaineux, HMAS Farncomb and HMAS Sheean - are undergoing maintenance, but even if they were ready for duty there would be no crews for them.
Defence experts have warned that the reduction in time spent at sea will mean crews get less exposure to operational experience and the basic war training they require.
Former defence minister Kim Beazley, who commissioned the Collins-class fleet in the 1980s, said the navy would want at least four crews, and preferably six, available at any one time.
"I am sure the navy would want four crews available at any point in time and in a perfect world they would want to be ableto adequately crew all thesubmarines," he told The Australian.
"Good economic times always make it tough for recruitment. One of the major tasks confronting the Government will be how to sustain and retain recruitment for the submarines."
The navy has tried to lure submariners by increasing pay and bonuses, giving submariners starting salaries in excess of $80,000.
But the unusual lifestyle of submariners has had it hard to attract Generations X and Y to the so-called silent service.
The Collins-class submarines cruise silently beneath the surface, often for months at a time, eavesdropping and collecting intelligence on key targets.
Sailing schedules are top secret and crews are forbidden to speak with outsiders about their work. Days are broken up into four shifts of six hours on and then six hours off around the clock seven days a week.
"The types of people we are looking for are what we call extroverted introverts," the Navy says on its website. "People who get along with others but at the same time are mentally able to occupy their 'own space', even though others surround them."
The Australian revealed in December that Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon had ordered planning to begin on the next generation of submarines to replace the six Collins-class boats when they are retired in 2025.
The 17-year submarine replacement plan will be the longest and most expensive defence project undertaken in Australia, potentially costing up to $25 billion.
It comes at a time when regional navies such as Indonesia's, China's and India's are seeking to drastically expand their submarine fleets, potentially altering the balance of naval power.
www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23347358-601,00.html |
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