New Commanding Officer of Dive and Hydrographic vessel
Meet Lieutenant Commander Andy Mahoney, the commissioning Commanding Officer of our new dive and hydrographic vessel Manawanui, due to arrive in New Zealand next year.
The Commanding Officer’s role for the new Dive and Hydrographic Vessel came as a complete surprise for Lieutenant Commander Andy Mahoney.
LTCDR Mahoney, formally the Fleet Warfare Officer for the Maritime Operational Evaluation Team, has just returned from a deployment as Operations Officer for the Sea Combat Command team at Exercise RIMPAC in Hawaii. Completing his Master’s Degree in Science and Technology is on his “to do” list, but his immediate focus will be the preparation for Manawanui, due in New Zealand in March.
“It’s a huge honour considering the short period of time I’ve been here, and I’m privileged and excited to take command of such a vessel.”
LTCDR Mahoney, from Surrey, UK, joined the Royal Navy in 1996 and enjoyed an exchange with the RNZN from 2013 to 2015. He returned to the UK for a year and deployed with the UK Maritime Battle Staff before deciding to make the New Zealand experience permanent. “The Navy was something I had always considered; my father’s side are all naval people, travel and new horizons are in my blood. The exchange was too good an opportunity to miss, and the quality of life for my children is much better than the UK. I was also attracted by the exciting opportunities offered by the RNZN.”
He was the Fleet Warfare Officer for the Maritime Operations Evaluation team for two years, his first job for the RNZN after his exchange. He credits that appointment to the breadth of experience gained while on exchange.
“I had been Principal Warfare Officer on Te Mana and finished as her Executive Officer after a pretty busy two years; doing a Work Up and deploying on operations followed by a maintenance period and getting it ready for its platform systems upgrade.”
He can relate to the diving aspect of the new ship, being a ship’s diver in the UK some years ago. “I’ve had two shore jobs, including MOET, in 22 years in the Navy. Everything else has been operational or sea jobs.”
The challenge for 2019 is getting prepared for the ship’s arrival from Norway.
“It has a huge breadth of capability,” he says.
“It’s the fact that the ship is going to offer so much from one platform. It’s replacing Manawanui III and Resolution, but it’s three ships from one, offering an integrated package of diving, hydrography and salvage.”
“The way I describe our challenge to others is that we have to work out the full range of routines and procedures; from how, when and where we serve breakfast, to how we deploy divers and support hydrographers.”
Ship’s Company are being identified, and later this year LTCDR Mahoney and his Engineering Officer, LTCDR Cam Field, will travel to Europe and spend time at sea on the vessel, currently named Edda Fonn.
“That will provide huge benefits. When we come back, we’ll be better informed to start writing Standard Operating Procedures, to inform us how we will operate this exciting and capable vessel — including where we will serve breakfast, dinner and everything in between.”
