Cllr Mike Summers' Statement About HMS ENDURANCE

An interview for FIRS by Stacey Bragger (SB) 01/15/09

Other Information Compiled by J. Brock (FINN)

There continues to be speculation in the British Press that HMS ENDURANCE could be scrapped.

Inserts from Portsmouth Today:

The navy is considering scrapping HMS Endurance because of the damage she sustained in a flood, The News can reveal.

http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/newshome/HMS-Endurance-may-be-a.4871937.jp

'People on the islands are worried because HMS ENDURANCE plays a big psychological role.

'Always on people's minds is what happened when the last HMS ENDURANCE was going to be taken out of service – shortly after that Argentina invaded.'

http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/newshome/Endurance-fears-worry-Islanders.4879332.jp

An MOD Spokesperson at Mount Pleasant Complex says that work is being undertaken to consider all options and until the assessment is complete it is simply not helpful to speculate on the way ahead or the extent of the damage. In addition the spokesperson said that the aim is to get the ship back into South Atlantic operations as soon as possible.

Councillor Mike Summers (MS) is concerned about the future of the vessel and the possible impact on the Falklands.

MS: there is very, very little information coming out about the ENDURANCE – either the state of it or what the Navy proposes to do about it. And, that is a matter of some concern. The Navy have been very, very clear, I think, to say in their public pronouncements that no decision of any sort has been made about the ENDURANCE. That leads us, obviously to think that there is a distinct possibility that the Navy might try to NOT repair the ENDURANCE if they regard it as too expensive, or not replace it. And, from our prospective that would be a very bad move indeed. We all know – the historians all know – the Foreign Office knows – the Navy knows what happened in 1982 when the wrong signals were sent to the Argentines about the withdrawal of the ENDURANCE. And, we certainly would not want that sort of thing to happen again.

SB: So it would be a psychological blow?

MS: It would and also a practical blow. The ENDURANCE spends the season down here in the Antarctic region – in the Falklands region on a number of tasks. Some of them are, if you like, diplomatic tasks but some of them are much more practical than that. She does a lot of surveying work not only in the Southern Regions, which supports the development of the tourism industry but she also does surveying work around the Falklands for us when she has time and it’s the only way we have for this sort of work to be done. So she has a real practical use here as well as a defence deterrent use. So, you know, it’s important to us that the ENDURANCE remains.

SB: Obviously a huge amount of money is involved for the Navy. Could this be seized as an opportunity for them to look at different options?

MS: That’s a matter of real concern and it’s an issue that we have raised in fact with friends in Parliament and others that the Ministry of Defence is under constant pressure to cut its budget like many others are and therefore the Navy is under constant pressure to cut its budget. It’s already down to 22 Frigates or something like that. And, it has tried in the past to say that the ENDURANCE is not part of their central defence commitment – it’s really an agency of the British Antarctic Survey and the Foreign Office - so – “Why should we be paying for it – Let’s get rid of it.” That has been thought in the past by agencies of the British Government. But I have little doubt – to be honest with you – that those same arguments will take place again – that the Navy will say – “We can’t afford to repair this thing – we suggest we get rid of it.” And, then the various other parts of the British Government with interests in this and ourselves will have to kick into action to make sure that the right decisions are taken.