Canterbury in weekend exercises

As Rough As It May Seem,It's Still Steady As You Go...


The Navy has been carrying out exercises on the country's newest military ship in Wellington this weekend.

HMNZS Canterbury is due to leave the capital this morning after almost a week berthed in Wellington Harbour.

Chief Officer Tony Miller says the crew have been using their time in Wellington to carry out exercises with the Army, including loading vehicles onto the ship ready for transportation.

Tony Miller says the ship is now heading to Napier to carry out the next phase of exercises.



The Multi-Role Vessel CANTERBURY is the first of seven new ships built for the Royal New Zealand Navy under Project Protector. She is affiliated to the Canterbury Region. She was built at the Merwede Shipyard in the Netherlands, under contract to Tenix. CANTERBURY’s design is based on a commercial RO-RO ship, Ben-My-Chree in operation in the Irish Sea.

CANTERBURY will have diesel-electric propulsion and a maximum speed of just over 19 knots. She will provide a sealift capability for the transport and deployment of equipment, vehicles and personnel, and capable of transferring cargo and personnel ashore in benign conditions (up to sea state 3) when port facilities are not available. CANTERBURY has two 59 tonne Landing Craft Medium (LCM) capable of carrying 50 tonnes at 9 knots with a range of 250 nm.

Particulars of CANTERBURY
Displacement: 9000 tonnes
Length overall: 131 metres
Beam: 23.4 metres
Speed: 19 knots

Complement: Core ship's company: 53
Flight personnel: 10
Government agencies: 4
Army ship's staff: 7
Trainees: 35
Troops: 250
Total: 360

Propulsion: Diesel engines
Flight deck: Space for two helicopters

Armament: 25mm and two .50 calibre machine guns

Helicopter capability

The NH90 Helicopter has been selected as the NZDF’s preferred medium Utility Helicopter to replace RNZAF’S Iroquois. Up to four NH90’s can be carried onboard the MRV for deployment ashore in support of Army operations and disaster relief activities. The MRV is also capable of operating the SH-2G Seasprite and the helicopter deck is able to handle a Chinook-size helicopter.