HMS Enterprise leaves home port for refurbishment ahead of joining Bangladesh's navy

An Echo-class survey ship has left Portsmouth to be refurbished ahead of joining the Bangladeshi navy.

HMS Enterprise, which was commissioned into the Royal Navy more than two decades ago, will aid Dhaka's maritime security and regional stability efforts.

The vessel, due to stay in service until 2028, was used in survey operations, humanitarian aid and disaster support missions, before being decommissioned in 2022.

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She will also give hydrographic, oceanographic and scientific research capability and offer research opportunities for Bangladeshi universities.

This latest sale comes after two Royal Fleet Auxiliary tankers were sold to a private company in February.

Inocea Group, a British marine, defence and industrial group, bought RFA Wave Knight and RFA Wave Ruler.

"The sale of this survey vessel reflects the deep trust and strong cooperation between the United Kingdom and Bangladesh," Sarah Cooke, the British high commissioner to Bangladesh, said.

"HMS Enterprise served the Royal Navy with distinction, and we are proud to see her begin a new chapter supporting Bangladesh's maritime capability and our shared commitment to a secure and prosperous Bay of Bengal."

Last month, reports emerged of a proposal for the Uruguayan navy to purchase the Royal Navy's three Batch 1 River-class offshore patrol vessels.

HMS Enterprise sailed across the world during her time in service as she travelled more than 500,00 miles.

She has had a varied life of deployments, including surveying Beirut harbour after the explosion that damaged the docks in 2020.

She also helped evacuate civilians from Libya during the civil unrest in 2014, and she spent long periods supporting the international operation to rescue migrants in the Mediterranean.

"Throughout her service over the last two decades, she has continually punched above her weight, delivering real operational effect and representing the nation throughout the world," Commander Malcolm McCallum, the then-Commanding Officer of HMS Enterprise, said at the decommissioning ceremony at Portsmouth Naval Base in 2023.

"Her influence has been truly global."

HMS Enterprise and her sister ship, HMS Echo, were replaced by the Navy's Future Military Data Gathering Programme, which deploys specialist teams with state-of-the-art equipment, including drones and autonomous systems, on other vessels – like commercial ships – to find information.