Want to buy a submarine?
One of the last Oberon class submarines to be built is being advertised for sale on eBay. Otama was completed by Scotts Shipbuilding on the Clyde in 1978 and served with the Royal Australian Navy for 22 years.
It had been hoped to preserve the 2,000-tonne boat as a museum at Hastings in the state of Victoria, but her owners say that they have encountered too many 'obstacles'. A spokesman said that they felt they were getting nowhere, and have put the boat on eBay out of 'pure desperation'.
Apart from the removal of classified communications and sensor equipment, Otama is in the same state that the crew left it, an operational Oberon class submarine with a full outfit of spares and equipment. The asking price of AU $4.9 million (£2.1 million), however, is likely to put off all but the most serious bidders.
Motor Boats Monthly, 4 December 2008
|
