New warships with bigger manning needs means big manning problems

The RAN and senior Defence leadership are in a dreamland if they think the 3 Hobart-class air warfare destroyers and 2 Canberra-class amphibious ships will have enough manpower to run them.

Why? Current known manning performance in today's fleet.

A shortage of technical sailors, blamed on the resources boom, has forced the navy to tie up two frontline warships indefinitely while its remaining 10 frigates lost 459 days in just six months this year due to "unscheduled" repairs and maintenance.

The navy describes the temporary withdrawal from service of the WA-based frigate HMAS Arunta and the Sydney-based HMAS Stuart as "extended readiness" and it blames the mining boom's high wages for cornering the market in highly qualified technicians.

He said the impact of the loss of two frigates would be minimal because three of the ships would be out of service receiving an anti-ship missile upgrade. "We still have a problem with technical sailors and retaining technical sailors," Admiral Griggs said.

"It is going to be a long-term thing to recover from."

And as a long-time observer of Defence issues informed me, the excuse of the resources boom is old. It has existed for at least 10 years.

H/T-SR