UK sells HMS Enterprise survey vessel to Bangladesh to strengthen Bay of Bengal security.

The United Kingdom and Bangladesh signed a government-to-government defence sales agreement on February 8, 2026, for the transfer of the former Royal Navy hydrographic survey vessel HMS Enterprise (H88) to the Bangladesh Navy.

On February 8, 2026, the United Kingdom and Bangladesh signed a government-to-government defence sales agreement in Dhaka to transfer the former Royal Navy hydrographic survey vessel HMS Enterprise to the Bangladesh Navy. The transfer supports Bangladesh’s hydrographic, oceanographic, and maritime security requirements in the Bay of Bengal while extending the operational service life of the vessel, which was decommissioned by the Royal Navy in March 2023.
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Ordered on June 19, 2000, launched on May 2, 2002, and commissioned on October 17, 2003, with HMNB Devonport in Plymouth as her home port, the HMS Enterprise was decommissioned on March 30, 2023, before its intended out-of-service period of 2028. (Picture source: British Navy)

The agreement was concluded at Bangladesh Navy Headquarters in Dhaka following extensive technical engagement between the Bangladesh Navy, the UK Ministry of Defence, and the Royal Navy, and was framed within wider UK–Bangladesh maritime cooperation in the Bay of Bengal and Indo-Pacific. HMS Enterprise had been laid up since her decommissioning on March 30, 2023, at Portsmouth Naval Base, and the sale generates a modest but unspecified payment for the Royal Navy while extending the operational life of a specialist hydrographic ship assessed as structurally sound with remaining service life.

The transfer is intended to enhance Bangladesh’s hydrographic, oceanographic, maritime security, and disaster response capabilities, while also supporting cooperation with national research institutions and universities. The Bangladesh Navy, founded in July 1971 and numbering about 22,000 personnel, has previously integrated former Royal Navy vessels such as BNS Anushandhan, formerly HMS Roebuck, into its fleet to support charting and maritime boundary definition. The HMS Enterprise, pennant number H88, was the tenth Royal Navy ship to bear the name and formed, together with the HMS Echo (H87), the two-ship Echo class of multi-role hydrographic oceanographic survey vessels.

The Echo-class survey vessels were developed in the mid-1990s to replace the Royal Navy’s remaining coastal and ocean survey ships, including HMS Bulldog, HMS Beagle, and HMS Roebuck, with two modern multi-role hydrographic oceanographic ships capable of operating in both coastal and deep waters. In June 2000, the Ministry of Defence confirmed an order for two vessels under a £130 million programme that included 25 years of through-life support, with Vosper Thornycroft as prime contractor and construction subcontracted to Appledore Shipbuilders in North Devon. The hulls were built side by side in an undercover dry dock, with HMS Echo floated out on March 2, 2002, and HMS Enterprise launched on April 27, 2002, before commissioning in 2003.

Based on the Canadian VARD Marine 9 105 research vessel concept, the Echo-class ships were the first Royal Navy vessels fitted with azimuth thrusters in a diesel-electric configuration, allowing 360-degree manoeuvrability and fine station-keeping via integrated navigation controls and dynamic positioning. Ordered on June 19, 2000, built by Appledore Shipbuilders under prime contractor Vosper Thornycroft, launched on May 2, 2002, and commissioned on October 17, 2003, with HMNB Devonport in Plymouth as her home port, the HMS Enterprise was decommissioned on March 30, 2023, before its originally intended out-of-service period of 2028 due to cost pressures, maintenance challenges and the expansion of autonomous survey methods.

The ship displaced 3,740 tonnes and measured 90.6 metres in length with a beam of 16.8 metres and a draught of 5.5 metres. Propulsion was diesel-electric, generated by three diesel generators producing 4.8 MW, supplying power to two 1.7 MW azimuth thrusters and a 0.4 MW bow thruster, enabling a maximum speed of 15 knots. The operational range was 9,300 nautical miles at 12 knots with an endurance of 35 days, supporting long-duration survey deployments without frequent port calls. Power generation, propulsion, auxiliary systems, tank gauging, and damage control were managed through an integrated platform management system accessible at multiple workstations throughout the vessel. 

The vessel’s core mission was centred on hydrographic and oceanographic surveys in support of submarine and amphibious operations, providing near real-time environmental data for operational planning. The integrated survey system included multi-beam and single-beam echo sounders, side-scan sonar, an undulating oceanographic profiler, Doppler current log, sub-bottom profiler, and bottom sampling equipment, enabling bathymetric mapping and seabed characterization. Off-board sensors could be deployed via hydraulic doors and cranes, including conductivity, temperature and depth probes, sound velocity probes and turbidity-measuring devices, while a hydraulic A-frame supported towed systems.

Survey motor boats equipped with multi-beam sonar and side-scan systems enabled shallow-water operations in ports, estuaries, and coastal zones. Data collected could be transmitted ashore for chart production and wider scientific use, while supporting immediate tactical applications when required. In addition to survey tasks, the ship could embark a mine countermeasures command team and act as a tasking authority platform for mine warfare support. Armament comprised two Oerlikon 20 mm cannons, three miniguns, and four general-purpose machine guns for force protection during deployments in unstable maritime environments. The HMS Enterprise’s company totalled 72 personnel, typically with 48 embarked at any one time under a rotating system of approximately 75 days on and 30 days off, enabling an availability of up to 330 days per year.

Accommodation allowed up to 81 personnel if required, with double cabins for most crew and single cabins for the commanding officer and executive officer. The Echo-class followed a three-watch system similar to that used on other Royal Navy survey and patrol vessels, supporting a high operational tempo with limited manpower. Maintenance and refits were conducted at facilities including Falmouth and later under a 10-year £150 million contract awarded in 2018 covering Echo, Enterprise, and HMS Protector. Average annual running costs for personnel, fuel, and port visits were stated at approximately £5.5 million per ship, with a 2013 net book value of about £25 million each. 

During her service from 2003 to 2023, HMS Enterprise was deployed to the Mediterranean, Gulf of Aden, Somali Basin, West Africa, South Africa, the Indian Ocean, and the Persian Gulf. She evacuated around 110 British and European citizens from Libya in August 2014, and between 2015 and 2016, rescued more than 9,000 migrants in the Mediterranean during EU Operation Sophia. The HMS Enterprise served as the flagship of Standing NATO Mine Countermeasures Group 2, operated in the South Atlantic performing patrol duties, participated in Exercise Trident Juncture in Norway, and transited the Taiwan Strait in December 2019. In August 2020, she deployed to Beirut following the port explosion, conducting bathymetric surveys of harbour approaches and delivering assistance to Lebanese authorities.

The ship also supported operations in the Black Sea and wider Asia-Pacific region, as this ship combined survey, mine warfare support, evacuation, humanitarian, and NATO roles within a single hull. The retirement of the Echo class occurred in the context of increasing reliance on autonomous survey systems, including unmanned underwater vehicles and long-endurance Slocum gliders capable of operating for more than 200 days and diving to depths of 1,000 metres. One glider example operated 219 days in the Greenland–Iceland–UK gap, travelling 2,643 kilometres and transmitting 214 megabytes of data, collecting temperature, salinity, depth, current, and turbulence information relevant to anti-submarine warfare. The Royal Navy has also seeded the Atlantic with profiling floats generating thousands of oceanographic observations annually, supplementing crewed survey efforts. While these unmanned systems reduce cost and manpower requirements, they do not replicate all functions of a crewed vessel such as the HMS Enterprise, able to combine survey, presence, command and humanitarian roles.

Written by Jérôme Brahy

Jérôme Brahy is a defense analyst and documentalist at Army Recognition. He specializes in naval modernization, aviation, drones, armored vehicles, and artillery, with a focus on strategic developments in the United States, China, Ukraine, Russia, Türkiye, and Belgium. His analyses go beyond the facts, providing context, identifying key actors, and explaining why defense news matters on a global scale.