HMNZS ''Moa'' (P3553) was a ''Moa''-class inshore

patrol vessel A patrol boat (also referred to as a patrol craft, patrol ship, or patrol vessel) is a relatively small naval vessel generally designed for coastal defence, border security, or law enforcement. There are many designs for patrol boats, and they ...

of the

Royal New Zealand Navy The Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN; mi, Te Taua Moana o Aotearoa, , Sea Warriors of New Zealand) is the maritime arm of the New Zealand Defence Force. The fleet currently consists of nine ships. The Navy had its origins in the Naval Defence Act ...

. It was commissioned in 1983 for the Naval Volunteer Reserve and decommissioned in 2007. ''Moa'' was the

second The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds ...

ship of this name to serve in the Royal New Zealand Navy and was named after the

Moa Moa are extinct giant flightless birds native to New Zealand. The term has also come to be used for chicken in many Polynesian cultures and is found in the names of many chicken recipes, such as Kale moa and Moa Samoa. Moa or MOA may also refe ...

bird from

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. After she was decommissioned in January 2007, she was sold on in March to a Picton builder who renamed the vessel ''Flightless''. On Friday 20 June 2008 the vessel, moored at anchor on the eastern side of Waikawa Bay, Picton, was struck by a commercial fishing boat, with the loss of two lives aboard the fishing boat.Paul Mulrooney, Two die in boat crash, ''Dominion Post'', front page, 21–22 June 2008. After an extensive refit Flightless is now owned by Pure Salt Ltd and operates as an expedition vessel, providing adventure charters in Fiordland & Stewart Island.

References

Moa-class patrol boats Picton, New Zealand 1983 ships {{Mil-ship-stub

See also

References