MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

“Piggy-backed” HMS Endurance expected Wednesday in Portsmouth

The 6.000 tons. Ice Patrol looks like a toy boat on the Target

HMS Endurance, the Royal Navy's badly damaged Ice patrol ship, is due to arrive in the Solent, Portsmouth, aboard a heavy lift ship tomorrow Wednesday after an 8,000-mile piggy-back voyage from the Falkland Islands.

Endurance was operating in the Magellan Strait before Christmas when a faulty seawater valve allowed her engine room and a significant proportion of C Deck to flood, and she lost all propulsion and most auxiliary systems. Left adrift she was rescued by the Chilean Navy and later towed to the Falkland Islands

Subject to suitable weather conditions she will be floated off the 53,800-tonne semi-submersible heavy lift ship Target in Spithead on 10-11 April in an operation which is expected to take between 18-20 hours. There will be a 250-metre exclusion zone in place around the ships while the operation takes place

Her original departure from the Falkland Islands was delayed because of problems welding her in place for the journey.

After towing HMS Endurance from Chile to the Falkland Islands the Royal Navy considered scrapping the ship, but decided to bring her back to Portsmouth for repair.

The contract for that has not been awarded, but Portsmouth-based BVT Surface Fleet is expected to be among the frontrunners.

The Navy has refused to reveal details of the flooding incident or the return and repair contracts, but the bill to the UK taxpayer is understood to be less than the £39 million spent on the destroyer HMS Nottingham, which was badly damaged after running aground off Australia in 2002.