PLETTENBERG BAY NEWS - A South African warship made its presence felt in Plettenberg Bay last week and the town was abuzz with speculation. And no, it was not an invasion.

It was to pay a courtesy call and conduct re-supply, according to Capt (SAN) Prince Tshabalala, senior staff officer of naval public relations.

Tshabalala said the SAS Mendi was on an operation called OPS Corona, which is concentrated on safeguarding South Africa's maritime borders.

"Now and then warships that are on patrol do dock alongside the nearest ports for courtesy calls and re-supply of victuals," said Tshabalala. 

The ship, under command of Captain (SAN) Siphiwe Ngidi, completed a refit early this year and the budget spent was "as per allocated maintenance budget plan".

Asked how much had been spent on the refit, Tshabalala said this was confidential information and no further upgrades were expected.

He added that OPS Corona's objective is to safeguard all borders of South Africa, including maritime borders, that are within the South African maritime zone of 3000 NM "including land, air space and maritime borders".

The SAS Mendi was spotted in the bay in Plett.

The SAS Mendi is a patrol corvette/frigate and is one of four Valour class ships to be built in Kiel, Germany for the SA Navy.

Helmut Römer-Heitman, a correspondent for the internationally renowned Janes Defence Weekly, said the ship had undergone some maintenance, but not a full refit. "I suspect she is on an ordinary training programme - long overdue as lack of funds has been keeping all ships tied up.

"There is no money for refits, let alone the planned upgrades and not even for some repairs," he said.

According to Römer-Heitman, National Treasury made some funds available for refits in the current budget and has promised more.

"We shall see. But in any event that is only enough to halt degradation, not enough to modernise or upgrade ships that are close to 20 years old," he said.

The SAS Mendi was treated to a special sunset during its stay in Plett.

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