Army’s newest flagship vessel P71 out of service

Malta’s largest and most modern military ship is out of service because of a damaged shaft, further depleting the army’s ability to carry out offshore patrols.

The P71, commissioned in March 2023, has developed a fault in one of its underwater shafts, National Security Minister Byron Camilleri confirmed in parliament. He was replying to a question by Nationalist MP Darren Carabott.

The P71 is one of two large vessels used by the Armed Forces of Malta (AFM) to carry offshore patrols far out at sea. The army has other vessels that are smaller and used mostly for nearshore patrols.

Camilleri said “preliminary inspections” were conducted to assess the damage and ruled out it was the result of lack of maintenance. However, the minister ignored Carabott’s question as to whether the damage was the result of defective design.

The P71, built by Cantiere Navale Vittoria in Italy, was dogged by cost overruns running into millions of euros and late delivery.

It is the AFM’s flagship and has a range of 2,100 nautical miles. It can accommodate a crew of 50 and an additional 20 Special Operations Unit personnel.

The P71 also has a flight deck on which a medium-sized helicopter, such as the AW139 currently in use by the AFM, can land both at night and during the day. It also carries two 9.1m-RHIBS.

The vessel runs on two diesel engines and can travel at over 20 knots.

But news that the P71 is currently out of service has raised eyebrows at a time when two of the AFM’s three active helicopters are also currently out of action because of scheduled maintenance and inspections.

The AFM currently operates three AgustaWestland AW139 twin-engine helicopters but the airwing’s capacity was depleted over the past couple of years with the retirement of two aged Alouette III helicopters. The Alouettes are no longer in service after their manufacturer, Airbus Helicopters, informed operators worldwide it was stopping certification.

An army spokesperson did say the AFM is “exploring options to augment its current helicopter fleet in line with its procurement and investment objectives” but gave no timeframe for the procurement of new helicopters.

“No specific type and category has been selected at this time,” the spokesperson said when asked whether the AFM had identified the type of helicopters it needed to replace the Alouettes.

The current state of the army’s sea and air assets has raised eyebrows among serving and retired soldiers, who spoke to MaltaToday on condition of anonymity.

“The problem is not that helicopters are out of service because of scheduled maintenance but that the army does not have enough assets to cater for such eventualities,” they said, adding that plans should have been put in place years ago to replace the Alouette helicopters with new ones.

But the depleted state of the army’s core units that provide long-range offshore patrols is also of concern in the context of Malta expressing an interest in declaring exclusive economic zones in international waters around the islands.

“It would be expected that the AFM should have the capacity to patrol and defend Malta’s EEZs if the need arises, something that would be severely hampered in circumstances like today’s,” the sources said.

Apart from the helicopters, the AFM’s airwing also comprises a Hawker Beechcraft King Air B200 aircraft and a Britten Norman BN-2T Islander aircraft.

Only last week, the King Air had to make an emergency landing shortly after take-off because the engine covering, known as cowling, came off.