Keel-laying held for Royal New Zealand Navy's largest vessel

摘要

Being built at Hyundai Heavy Industries shipyard in Ulsan, South Korea, HMNZS Aotearoa is the first a number of new vessels that the Royal New Zealand Navy requires to address global requirements of the New Zealand Defence Force and partner government agencies for deployment from Antarctica to the Arabian Gulf.The new vessel is much larger, and more capable than the ship it will replace, HMNZS Endeavour, and is designed to provide logistic support to New Zealand and coalition maritime, land and air units. The vessel's primary purpose is to conduct fuel resupply but it will also be capable of supplying dry goods, water, spare parts or ammunition. Missions that the new ship will be capable of undertaking include humanitarian and disaster relief, support to United Nations security operations, support to a coalition naval task group and Antarctic resupply, as a result of which the vessel will have an ice-strengthened hull.