An Roinn Cosanta Óglaigh na hÉireann Department of Defence Defence Forces
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- Output and Information Deficiencies
- 4.5.2 Outsourcing of Maintenance
- 4.5.3 Recommendations
4.5 Contracted MaintenanceContracted maintenance for the period 2003-2006 is highlighted in the table and graph below Figure 4.2 and Table 4.7. Figure 4.2 Contracted Maintenance Costs 2003 - 2006 
Table 4.7 Contracted Maintenance Costs 2003 - 2006
Contracted maintenance is required when a particular item of equipment needs a manufacturers service input or specialised fixtures and fittings need to be replaced, upgraded or installed on the various vessels. This level of maintenance is required when the expertise is not retained either on board ships or in the Dockyard. It includes servicing of refrigeration units, air conditioning systems, governors, turbo-blowers and all internal refurbishment and repairs such as galleys, decking, tiling and specialised repairs. In the case of dry-docking, the necessary maintenance infrastructure is not within Naval Service resources and must therefore be outsourced. This entails removing each ship from the water every 30 months for a two-week dry-docking period. This allows work to be conducted on all underwater components of the ship and is planned in advance. A civilian ship repair facility is contracted to dock, carry out necessary works and undock the ship. Ships’ crew supplement the work carried out by the contractor.
The main difficulty that the Steering Committee encountered when costing contracted maintenance was in obtaining a breakdown of expenditure on a ship-by-ship basis. The Naval Service was unable to associate contract maintenance costs with various individual ships through the MIF system. The cost is captured in NSC cost centre and not devolved to the fleet where the costs ultimately fall. Initial investigation suggests that subhead managers currently do not devolve expenditure (through no fault of their own) to the end user cost centre codes. This issue was raised with the MIF Project Management Board who confirmed to the Steering Committee that it is being addressed as part of MIF Phase II. 4.5.2 Outsourcing of MaintenanceThe Steering Committee noted that the Royal Navy (RN) have started outsourcing more of their maintenance to civilian contractors in an effort to reduce costs. Contracts valued at around £250 million have been recently placed by the Ministry of Defence with companies owning shipyards in the North West, North East and South West of England for the long-term maintenance of its fleet of Navy support ships. Northwestern Shiprepairers and Shipbuilders (NSL) of Birkenhead and the A&P Group in Falmouth and Newcastle on Tyne have been named as the contractors to maintain the flotilla of 16 Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) tankers, stores ships and landing ships that supply the RN at sea. The contractors will maintain 'clusters' of ships, providing the necessary refuelling and refit work for the RFA vessels throughout their service lives. Ships are grouped in clusters according to their duties and capabilities. NSL is contracted for the maintenance of four clusters of ships (11 ships in total), with contracts totalling over £180 million, while A&P Group are charged with two clusters (five ships) in a contract worth around £53 million with the work to be shared between its bases in Falmouth and on the Tyne. Another engineering and support services company called Fleet Support Limited (FSL) is based in Portsmouth. In addition to deep repair of naval warships, support and commercial vessels, the company also provides a fully integrated facilities management, logistics, transport, waterfront support and fleet-time maintenance service to the RN. All key capabilities are integrated by FSL in Portsmouth to include
The Steering Committee note that the maritime industry in the United Kingdom is well established, far more vibrant and presents greater choice of maintenance contractor than exists in the domestic industry in Ireland. Commercial shipping enterprises in Ireland use contractors both in England and mainland Europe and scheduled maintenance work is often conducted when the vessel is in port and under cargo contract so loss of business is limited. Larger maintenance work such as dry-docking takes place as required and in the case of Arklow Shipping is conducted in Dublin dry-dock. The Naval Service currently utilise commercial dry docking facilities in Cork. In addition, the volume of maintenance work emanating from the RN is much greater than that of the Naval Service and would therefore be more likely to attract and encourage greater competition. The scope for identifying suitable contractors in Ireland is limited without actually tendering for contracts and there is no guarantee thereafter that a chosen contractor could provide vessel maintenance over a sustained period of time. Servicing Naval Service vessels off-island is possible but presents issues for security, logistical requirements of transporting vessels to and from identified ports and the inherent loss or reduction in organic maintenance capability as a result. However, it is recommended that the Naval Service continue to explore any opportunity to achieve greater efficiency in outsourcing maintenance or elements of maintenance. 4.5.3 RecommendationsThe Steering Committee recommends that the Naval Service should continue to investigate, identify and implement the most cost effective and efficient means of vessel maintenance available. The previous recommendations of the Steering Committee with respect to benchmarking efficiency of maintenance tasks will, in due course, allow for more informed cost comparison of alternative approaches to maintenance including further use of contracted services. Download 496.54 Kb. Share with your friends:
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