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Chief
Petty Officer George Massouras worked extremely hard in
stifling conditions to train the Iraqi Coastal Defence Force
(ICDF) ships’ engineers.
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Photo:
CPL Neil Ruskin
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Iraqi
Coastal Defence Force
(MPEG Video 11.33 MB)
When the Iraqi Coastal Defence Force (ICDF) conducted their graduation
ceremony on September 30, CPOMT George Massouras knew there would
be no technical hitches.
He had just spent two months in Dubai managing the fleet’s complete
refit before being joined by other Australians to deliver the
ships to the ICDF.
CPOMT Massouras and British CPOSA Barry McCulloch were responsible
for overseeing the refitting of the five Chinese built patrol
vessels that were originally built in September 2002 and were
ordered under the old regime before being confiscated on their
way to Iraq.
They then sat on the hard-stand at Dubai for the last 18 months,
before being identified for use in the new ICDF.
“Basically we project-managed the whole refitting of the boats
to the standard we’d expect when we’re refitting our boats,” CPOMT
Massouras said.
“We came up with the plan for what we wanted done, and then once
all our quotations were approved through Coalition headquarters
in Baghdad, they [the contractors] commenced work.”
The extensive refit checked all systems for integrity on a list
that included everything from the paintwork, propulsion and power
generation systems, radar systems, echo sounder and fire fighting
equipment to name but a few.
“Every system and fitting onboard was checked ,” he said.
After extensive sea trials, the five patrol vessels, then sailed
for their new home, Umm Qasr, with Australians from the Iraqi
Coastal Defence Force – Training Team (ICDF-TT) onboard all five
vessels and commanding three.
“The crews were selected from here [ICDF-TT in Umm Qasr] and flown
to Dubai where we conducted sea trials prior to making the voyage.”
