Monday 18 December, 2006
Keel Lay For Second Inshore Patrol Vessel
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Lieutenant Commander Michael Smith, the Honorary Naval Officer for Whangarei, Warrant Officer Steve Bradley - Project
Directors Representative in Whangarei, Allister Taylor - Site Manager for Tenix and Gary Collier - Project Director from
Ministry of Defence. Behind them is the keel of HAWEA.
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The keel was formally laid for the second Inshore Patrol Vessel, HAWEA, in Whangerei on Wednesday 13 December. HAWEA is
affiliated to the Greymouth/Westport - West Coast region and is one of four In Shore Patrol Vessels being built for the
Navy under Project Protector.
A giant truck and trailer unit gently moved Module 3 of IPV2 (HAWEA) on to the consolidation bay on Wednesday. Module 3
is the central module of five which make up the HAWEA's hull. HAWEA will be the second of New Zealand's multi agency
fleet of Inshore Patrol Vessels which form part of Project PROTECTOR, a project which will provide a significant
capability for a range of Government agencies and the Navy to protect New Zealand's maritime borders.
After Module 3 was placed in position, the central dock block was lowered, and a coin was placed into a special cavity
carved into the wooden dock block; the block was then hammered home.
The Keel Laying Ceremony dates back hundreds of years to when 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, in this case a
special edition New Zealand silver five dollar coin which was retrieved at launch and will be presented to the ship's
company at a later date.
ENDS