Babcock, in partnership with the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN), is delivering a significant package of work to return HMNZS Otago back to operational service.
Critical reactivation work on HMNZS Otago has officially begun, with the company starting vital maintenance on the ship in recent weeks.
HMNZS Otago is one of the RNZN’s two Offshore Patrol Vessels, designed for maritime surveillance, supply, support and border and fishery patrol missions around New Zealand and the wider South West Pacific region. The ship was placed in a care and custody arrangement for a number of years, and in late 2024, the Navy asked Babcock to assess what would be required to reactivate the ship for operational service.
As the Strategic Maritime Partner to the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF), Babcock was asked to deliver the HMNZS Otago reactivation work in October 2024. A team of experts from the UK, Australia and NZ delivered a rapid assessment and development plan to pave the way to take the ship from extended readiness to operational service. Babcock will work with personnel from the RNZN to form an integrated team to deliver the material reactivation of HMNZS Otago.
The work includes significant engineering to a wide range of systems and equipment, including replacing obsolete systems, overhauling the engines and generators, replacing navigation systems and upgrading sensors and control systems.
Babcock is utilising its valued and capable New Zealand based supply chain partners, including more than 15 small and medium enterprises, to support the reactivation activity.
Babcock Australasia CEO Andrew Cridland said: “We are proud of our long-standing partnership with the NZDF and of our contribution to keeping New Zealand and its Pacific partners safe and secure.”
“From overhauling the engines and generators to upgrading the ship’s sensors and control systems, Babcock’s team of experts, with help from our valued supply chain, is ensuring that HMNZS Otago will be operationally ready for the ship’s company.”
As the Strategic Maritime Partner to the NZDF, Babcock operates the country’s largest marine engineering and maintenance support facility in Devonport, Auckland. Babcock has managed the RNZN dockyard and provided fleet material availability and support in New Zealand for decades, delivering maintenance, repair, overhaul and engineering services to the RNZN fleet.
The work HMNZS Otago is on track and the ship is due to be handed back to the NZDF in early 2026.