Diligent DILIGENCE – The RFA DILIGENCE, the Royal Navy's primary battle damage repair ship, is s vital cog in the support chain for our maritime forces and if often overlooked by commentators.  Launch in 1981 as the (commercial) STENA INSPECTOR in 1981 the ship was purchased by the Government in 1983 for £25 million pounds.   Key features of the vessel is a computer assisted dynamic positioning system, a helicopter deck on the roof of her bridge that is large enough to support a CHINOOK, and the hull is built to the highest ice class specification, so she can operate anywhere the Navy does.    When the ship returned to UK in November 2006 she had the longest deployment of an RFA in recent times some five (5)  and half years, visiting 25 different countries, whilst steaming some 150,000 miles, through the Mediterranean to the Persian Gulf, across the Indian Ocean to India, Sri Lanka and Singapore, the South China Sea to the Philippines and from South Africa across the Atlantic to the Falklands and South America.    Many of the ocean transits were made two or three imes during this long series of deployments.  

The MOD had indicated in February 2005 that it was expected to retain RFA DILIGENCE in service until around 2010, and that studies were underway to examine options for the future afloat support capability.    The ship was given a £16 million overhaul during 2007 at Birkenhead with the accommodation areas, galley and engine room all upgraded, with the intention of extending the ship's service life until either 2014, 2016 or the middle of the next decade (depending on the source consulted). The overhaul was completed in December 2007 and the RFA DILIGENCE returned to service. There is the OMAR project (Operational Maintenance and Repair Ship) a concept for the future replacement of RFA DILIGENCE but this programme appears to be on hold.   Thus the diligent RFA DILIGENCE seems, in these straighten financial times, to be faced with a further life extension refit as a proper replacement seems far away in time, unless the Royal Fleet Auxiliary returns to commercial market to buy a replacement off the shelf.