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A 245 Leeuwin Survey Ship

HMAS Leeuwin and and her sister ship HMAS Melville replaced the now decommissioned vessels HMA Ships Moresby and Flinders in 2000. Both ships take their names from prominent points on the Australian coast. Leeuwin is named after Cape Leeuwin, on the SW tip of Western Australia. Leeuwin was launched midway through 1997. The ships were built by NQEA in Cairns, North Queensland.

Leeuwin and Melville enable the Australian Hydrographic Service to gather high quality hydrographic information at a much greater rate than the ships they replace. The ships are 71 metres in length, with a beam of 15 metres, and a draught of 5.4 metres. Each ship displaces 2,550 tonnes and is manned by a crew of 46 officers and sailors. A state of the art Hydrographic Survey System (HSS) developed by STN Atlas will integrate accurate position information with data from a multi-beam echo sounder, towed side-scan sonar, single beam echo sounder and a forward-looking sonar. The ships will also carry three fully equipped 9 metre Survey Motor Boats for surveys in waters not suitable for the ships themselves. Both ships are capable of carrying a helicopter to assist in survey operations.

The Leeuwin Class Hydrographic Ships (HS) HMAS LEEUWIN and MELVILLE were commissioned on 27 May 2000. However the class did not meet the original specifications required by the RAN1 hence Operational Release (OR) has been delayed. The HS ships have been operating with a restricted capability since commissioning and have never fully met the operational capability for which they were built.

The HS were not constructed to their original design specifications, and this has had an adverse impact on the seakeeping characteristics of the class. The predominant superstructure material is aluminium (rather than the originally designed steel), which effectively made the ship 'stiff' from a stability perspective. This results in increased crew fatigue, occupational health and safety concerns and degradation of survey data beyond sea state 3 (SS3).

The HSPO implemented an interim solution that involved fitting bilge keels, and ship motion sensors (POS-MV) linked to hydrographic survey suite (HSS). Although these modification improved the seakeeping characteristics and survey data quality, the HS still did not meet the original seakeeping requirements of the Ship Specification, or Navy's contemporary requirements for Motion Induced Interruptions (MII)) in Sea State 4 conditions. Studies were undertaken by consultants to investigate further improvements.

The HS Operational Release Progress Review Group (HSORPRG) agreed to a list of outstanding OR deficiencies. A significant operational deficiency was the seakeeping non-compliance which ultimately results in a reduced surveying Rate Of Effort (ROE). The 2007 combined ROE for both HS is 2291 SQ NM per annum, significantly less than the specified 10000 SQ NM per annum. HSPO was addressing the seakeeping deficiencies as part of achieving OR by 30 June 2007.