The Naval Service’s newest addition to its fleet, the Inshore Patrol Vessel (IPV) LÉ Aoibhinn (P71) went to sea for the first time with a departure from the Naval Base on Haulbowline, Cork Harbour, on Monday morning.

The twin inshore cutters, LÉ Aoibhinn (P71) and LÉ Gobnait (P72) were delivered to Cork Harbour last May, having served the Royal New Zealand Navy as the former HMZNS Rotoiti and HMZNS Pukaki, respectively.

In March 2022 they were acquired from the New Zealand government.

LÉ Aoibhinn’s introduction, Afloat previously highlighted that the Naval Service would enter the IPV service this month, albeit on an Initial Operating Capability (IOC) and following this process, the IPV will then commence working up to Full Operational Capability (FOC).

Both the ‘Lake’ class cutters directly replaced the decommissioned LÉ Orla and LÉ Ciara which were recently disposed of when towed overseas to be recycled.

A Naval Service spokesperson confirmed to EchoLive.ie this week that the LÉ Aoibhinn had proceeded to sea for the first time and will commence its (IOC) process, as alluded to above.

“This process will take a period of time, and currently the Royal New Zealand Navy is assisting us in our familiarisation to the inshore patrol vessels,” the spokesperson explained.

More on this latest naval development here.