A cool million for a long, hot, hundred days on a steel hull

The LE Niamh is due home today from an ambitious mission to Asia,which came at a time when the Defence Forces had staggered from one controversy to another, writes Lorna Siggins, Marine Correspondent

A cluster of votes in Friday's election came from the Suez Canal. It was under a hot sun in the international waterway that some 49 votes were posted 10 days ago.

With Egypt to the west, the Sinai desert to the east, the "polling booth" for the various constituencies represented on board was a 78-metre long piece of sovereign Irish territory. The Naval Service patrol vessel, LE Niamh, which was on the home leg of its successful Asia mission, is due in to Cork harbour to a heroes' welcome today.

Lieut-Cdr Gerard O'Flynn, the ship's captain, can't decide if he is exhausted or not. "There is a certain tiredness that comes from living on a little steel hull for 100 days," he admitted, speaking to The Irish Times by satellite phone from the Mediterranean last week.

The three-month voyage was the most ambitious ever undertaken by the Naval Service - and the most extensive trade mission of its type organised by this State.

In spite of initial quips about slow boats to China, the serious aim of the enterprise was to increase Ireland's very poor profile in a growing economic region. A Government-published strategy study in 1999 identified the need to overcome this identity problem if this economy was to participate in what is now being dubbed the "Asian century" for trade.

Irish-owned manufacturing, service and food companies exported €560 million worth of goods to Asia in 2000, representing a 35 per cent increase on 1999. However, Ireland and Iceland are commonly confused, and Ireland is almost unknown to many, in the rapidly developing markets of China and Japan. There is no history of a diaspora in this region, although Irish missionaries have contributed to the education system in Korea and Malaysia.

Eager participants in the venture were Enterprise Ireland and the Department of Foreign Affairs. The Department of Defence was initially reluctant, but Minister Michael Smith gave his approval, and subsequently flew out to Hong Kong to mark St Patrick's Day.

From its inception, the 25,000-mile voyage was a gamble at a time when the Defence Forces had staggered from one public controversy to another - the most recent being the highly critical report on bullying and sexual harassment, which applied to all three wings, including the Naval Service.

How would crew relations stand up to an arduous and demanding endeavour? How would the Irish fishing industry react to the loss of a patrol ship for 100 days? Would there be much flak about the estimated cost at just more than €1 million? These were some of the many questions anticipated during preparation for the voyage.

Commander Mark Mellett, chief architect for Naval headquarters, points out that the net cost was €250,000, as fuel and wages were budgeted for anyway during the equivalent period on fishery patrol. And the LE Niamh undertook military duties for the first part of the journey - bringing supplies to Irish troops serving with the United Nations in Eritrea.

TAKING the lone ranger's advice, nothing was left to chance. Weather was the main determining factor in the timing, which explains why it did not coincide with Irish participation in the World Cup. Every last detail was researched, including the effect of higher sea-water temperatures on the new ship's engines - built for the temperate north Atlantic - and the risk of pirate attacks in the notorious Straits of Mallaca on the approach to Singapore.

Quality control checks had to be devised in advance of purchasing diesel for the ship's two 7,000 horse-power Wartsila engines. Electronic and paper charts had to be prepared by Sub-Lieut Roberta O'Brien, the ship's navigator, for all the ports en route, and for safe havens and ports of refuge in case of bad weather or technical hitches. Petty Officer Cronan Doyle had to research the ship's communications plan and gather information on radio stations, satellite earth stations, port radio stations and weather forecasting.

Smoked salmon, and meat for the Irish stew (served on St Patrick's Day in Hong Kong) had to be sourced and stored. Bord Bia, Bord Iascaigh Mhara, Waterford Glass and the main drinks' suppliers being principal sponsors of this. Berths had to be arranged, and Hong Kong proved to be a problem, with a commercial rate of $10,000 a day. It was decided that the ship should pick up a cheaper mooring buoy instead.

Another financial problem was averted when Enterprise Ireland ensured that pubs in Hong Kong sold pints of Guinness to the naval crew at Dublin prices - rather than the inflated local charge. Not that the crew had much time to drink, or avail of the "R&R" normally expected when in port, their captain emphasises. Such was the pressure to host reception after reception for the various Irish companies and agencies involved in the promotion that the one-in-three duty system was cancelled. The "break", such as it was, came at sea.

Crowd control measures had to be taken in Shanghai, when hundreds of people turned up to come on board. The ship accommodated some 10,000 visitors overall during the complete passage through Pacific waters. The Irish ambassador to Malaysia, Dan Mulhall,who was the last diplomat in the region to welcome in the ship, describes himself as a bit of an old cynic, and yet he was very impressed by the impact.

"Many people remarked that they didn't know we had a navy, and so by sending a ship like this - and not on a military mission - it was making a certain kind of statement" says Mulhall.

A ship's "diary" was kept on the Defence Forces' website (www.military.ie), which includes memorable moments such as the historic passage through the Suez canal, the dramatic backdrop in Hong Kong's Victoria Harbour, and the contact with Irish Columban fathers in Korea who had travelled many hours overland to bring 75 young adults with intellectual disabilities to see the navy ship.

If there were any glitches, you won't find them in the web diary. "There were none," Lieut-Cmdr O'Flynn swears, emphasising how lucky he was with weather.

Apart from one rough patch en route from Hong Kong to Shanghai, the ship stayed several hundred miles ahead of tropical storms throughout. One of its worst periods was the departing leg, in a February gale, from Cork to the Bay of Biscay.

This newspaper did record one slip of a diplomatic nature - made by the Minister for Defence in Hong Kong, when he referred several times to the "Republic", as distinct from the People's Republic, of China. If this was a "plank-walking" offence, he escaped, but the captain was not so lucky later on.

He met his fate on April 22nd, when his ship became the first Irish naval patrol vessel to cross the Equator.

Lieut-Cmmdr O'Flynn was confronted with impossible demands by a bearded and robed King Neptune (also known as Petty Officer Owen O'Keeffe). As per tradition in "crossing the line" by sea, the demands were for a shrub, a modest sum of money from a member of the crew known for his thriftiness, and the offering up of the youngest male virgin on board as a husband for the sea king's daughter.

The captain had to pass on all three. Fortunately, the sea water temperature was 32 degrees Celsius.