SET TO SAIL Irish navy ship bought in €26m deal with 2nd boat set for FIRST voyage after over 4 years & ‘crew capacity’ issues

AN IRISH navy ship purchased along with another boat for €26million will finally embark on its first voyage in 2026 – four and a half years after it was first purchased.

The LE Gobnait boat has been lying idle for nearly two years since it first arrived in Ireland in March 2024 because the Irish navy did not have enough sailors to bring it into circulation.

The ships were fitted out for the Irish navy and delivered in March 2024 – but the LE Gobnait has not once been used.

Instead, the ship has been tied up at Haulbowline naval base in Cork for the past two years due to critical staffing shortages.

The smaller ship is made to patrol closer to the shore and was purchased specifically because it only takes 20 crew to bring it into operation.

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However, staff shortages in the navy has meant that our Defence Forces have been unable to deploy several ships at the same time and the LE Gobnait has been left lying idle.

Its sister ship, the LE Aoibhinn, has been in operation and was recently damaged during Storm Chandra when it was berthed in Dun Laoighaire.

However, the damage is understood to be minimal.

The Defence Forces told the Irish Sun that the navy expect to be in a position to deploy the LE Gobnait in the third quarter of this year.