Electrical issues with HMAS Adelaide

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MikeJames
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Electrical issues with HMAS Adelaide

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HMAS Adelaide suffers power failure during Tongan mission after volcanic eruption

Exclusive by defence correspondent Andrew Greene

A massive electrical power failure has crippled the Australian Navy's largest warship as it completes its humanitarian mission to Tonga following the January 14 volcanic eruption and tsunami.

The ABC can reveal that despite days of emergency work HMAS Adelaide, known as a landing helicopter dock (LHD), is still experiencing problems, having earlier been "stranded".

An email sent by HMAS Adelaide's commander states: "Marine Technical Department have worked throughout the past few days to restore power and get us operational again."

In the message, obtained by the ABC, Captain Stuart Watters says: "We are still experiencing issues with external communications and wanted to let you know that everyone onboard is safe.

"We want to thank the technical team for their hard work in hot and difficult conditions which is enabling us to complete our task and restore services and communications."

Sources on board HMAS Adelaide have told the ABC* the ship was "stranded" for a period of time, because of a "total power failure", including the backup power.

According to several members of the crew*, most of the ship's company were now sleeping "above deck" because of the power problems.

Last week, HMAS Adelaide was allowed to dock in Tonga to deliver humanitarian supplies, despite a COVID-19 outbreak that occurred on board shortly after it had departed Australia.

The ship's commander insists "COVID protocols are in place and effected personnel are being provided with medical care and being supported".

"A number of people who were originally identified as infectious have been cleared to return to duty after completing quarantine," Captain Watters wrote.

The Defence Department is yet to respond to the ABC's request for comment.
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Re: Electrical issues with HMAS Adelaide

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HMAS Adelaide crew battles Covid, electrical fault

Stricken Australian navy ship HMAS Adelaide has become a floating sick bay off Tonga, with 23 active Covid cases and 43 personnel in quarantine as technicians race to restore full power to the vessel and check for damage to its key systems.

Defence’s Chief of Joint Operations, Lieutenant General Greg Bilton, confirmed on Wednesday the ship had lost total power twice, once for six hours and once for five hours, amid a serious Covid outbreak below decks during its aid mission to the Pacific nation.

General Bilton said normal power was close to being restored on the ship after days of electrical problems, which affected critical systems and forced personnel to work in searing heat as they scrambled to fix the outages.

His comments followed an emergency delivery of spare parts and two civilian technicians to the Landing Helicopter Dock – one of the navy’s biggest ships – during its humanitarian mission to the country.

Those with Covid-19 or isolating as close contacts now account for more than a tenth of the number of personnel on the ship.

In addition to the active cases, 28 personnel on the vessel have recovered from Covid-19 infections in recent days, making it 51 cases aboard the HMAS Adelaide since it departed Australia a fortnight ago.

General Bilton said the ship had a full PCR testing facility to conduct accurate Covid-19 tests, and was working methodically to map the spread of the virus and “contain it and eliminate it from the ship”.

He said there was no evidence of the electrical problem before the Adelaide departed Sydney on January 16, to provide humanitarian support to Tonga after a massive volcanic eruption and tsunami.

“Obviously this has been a disappointing outcome but we are working hard to make sure we can continue to provide aid to Tonga,” General Bilton told Sky News.

He said the civilian engineers were testing the ship’s systems to ensure they were undamaged by the electrical faults.

“Power has been restored to almost all systems on the ship at this stage,” General Bilton said.

He said the ship had been delivering aid in a Covid-safe manner, and there was no link between the HMAS Adelaide cases and a new coronavirus outbreak in Tonga.

“The two workers who have tested positive were operating at a completely different wharf facility,” General Bilton said.
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