IPV Keel Laying Ceremony
The Keel Laying Ceremony for the first of four Inshore Patrol Vessels (IPVs) being built at the Tenix Shipyard in Whangarei took place at 10 am on Friday 3 March.
Right - The Taliman coin is placed into a special cavity carved into the wooden dock block
IPV1 will be the first of four 55 metre, 350 tonne Inshore Patrol Vessels to be built, fitted out and launched in Whangarei, all vessels are due to be delivered during 2007.
The Keel Laying Ceremony dates back hundreds of years, where a Talisman was inserted into the keel of a vessel at the start of the build to protect the ship builders and future seafarers from bad luck. This tradition takes many forms in modern shipbuilding today, at Tenix Group the Talisman is a coin placed under the keel of the vessel. For the first IPV a special edition New Zealand silver five dollar coin was placed, which will be retrieved at launch and presented to the ships company at a later date.
Section of the hull of the Inshore Patrol Vessel
Representing the NZ Ministry of Defence at the ceremony was Mr Gary Collier, the Project Director, who placed the coin into a special cavity carved into the wooden dock block. Mr Collier said that the keel lay of the first IPV is an important milestone not just for the Whangarei site but also for the whole project. “It is good to see real progress being made on all Project Protector vessel types with the Multi Role Vessel launched in Rotterdam last month, the keel lay of the first Offshore Patrol Vessel in December in Melbourne and the two landing craft nearing completion in Holland. They are now off the drawing board and well into the construction phase”.
Naval staff proudly stand before the beginnings of IPV1
This occasion, said Mr Collier, “would not have been possible without the professionalism and dedication of many people. In particular, Alistair Taylor and all of the Tenix Shipbuilding NZ team, Steve Lohr, the Tenix IPV Project Manager, Les Craig, the Tenix Protector Project Manager, and the MoD and Navy personnel involved in the project”. He also praised the involvement and quality of work of local industry involved in the IPV build and the wider Project including Donovan’s, South Pacific Industries, CULHAMS Engineering, McRAES, MMB Engineering and McKAY Electrical. “There is a total of $110 million of NZ industry content with this project, a large proportion of which is to Whangarei companies who will see their products in these ships for many years to come supporting a range of Government departments and I congratulate all of those present today on their commitment and quality of product”.