Ireland moves towards procurement of new multirole vessel

The new MRV is intended to replace the former Irish Naval Service flagship LÉ Eithne , which was decommissioned in 2022. (Michael Nitz/Naval Press Service)

The Irish Department of Defence (DoD) has issued a prior information notice for the procurement of a new multirole vessel (MRV) for the Irish Naval Service (INS) on the European Union's (EU's) Tenders Electronic Daily (TED) portal.

The information notice, published on 23 January, moves the Irish government's plan to procure an MRV into a new phase. The new vessel is intended to replace the former flagship LÉ Eithne, which was decommissioned in 2022. The procurement is estimated to cost EUR300 million (USD326.46 million).

The notice does not provide details on planned specifications; however, it says the MRV should be “capable of providing a flexible and adaptive capacity for a wide range of maritime tasks, both at home and overseas”. It is also expected that the new vessel “will also be enabled for helicopter operations, freight/personnel carrying operations, and will be the flagship of the Irish naval fleet”.

The publication of the notice follows the INS' acquisition of two second-hand Lake-class inshore patrol vessels (IPVs) from New Zealand, which are scheduled to enter service this year, and comes amid the INS' widely reported recruitment and retention issues that have resulted in some of the fleet being tied up because of crew shortages.

Plans to replace Eithne