Navy flagship to be sold on cheap
THE Royal Navy’s flagship and only helicopter carrier is set to be sold to Brazil. HMS Ocean, which features on Channel 4 series Warship, could be offloaded for a fraction of the £300million she cost to build.
She only came into service in 1998 but is to be decommissioned next year because of cuts.
The Ministry of Defence confirmed the vessel is for sale and that the UK is in talks with foreign governments.
Brazilian media reported that the country’s navy wants to buy the 28,000-ton ship, which has seen active service in the Iraq War and during an SAS rescue operation in Sierra Leone. Its sale would leave the Navy without a carrier of any kind until HMS Queen Elizabeth becomes operational in 2023.
Officials from the South American state said they are “cautiously optimistic” about a possible sale. They described the price they were quoted for buying the huge vessel as “reasonable”.
The Brazilian Navy is said to have become interested in Ocean after deciding not to conduct costly upgrades on one of its ageing carriers.
Ocean visited Brazil in 2010 and the crew worked with Brazilian marines on a diplomatic mission to the country. The MoD would not comment on the vessel’s price but the carrier HMS Illustrious was recently sold to a Turkish recycling yard for just £2m. HMS EXCLUSIVE PATRICK WILLIAMS Ocean is the largest vessel in the Navy. She was built to support landing operations and took part in the opening hours of the Iraq War when Royal Marines flew out from the carrier to attack enemy positions on the Al-Faw peninsular.
In November 2015, the MoD confirmed that Ocean was to be decommissioned.
A £60m refit had been recently carried out which would have kept her seaworthy for at least another six years.
Senior naval officers had hoped the vessel might be given a reprieve after the RAF extended the service of Tornado squadrons which were due to be axed. One senior source said: “Ocean is still a very capable vessel.
“There is no reason why she could not remain in service until 2023 – the decommissioning will weaken Britain’s defences.”
An MoD spokesman said: “A number of options are being considered for the future of Ocean, including the possibility of selling to another government.”