The Royal New Zealand Navy commissioned the HMNZS Aotearoa, the service's new fleet tanker and sustainment vessel. A commissioning ceremony was held today during which Captain Simon Rooke officially took command of the ship.

At a launch ceremony this week, the Royal New Zealand Navy’s (RNZN) first purpose-built ship in 10 years, the HMNZS Aotearoa, finally found herself in her natural environment only eight months after her keel was laid in a South Korean shipyard, the RNZN press office announced on April 25.