Sirius? I thought her Deck was pretty much unusable due to wind flow issues or something similar?

Not true mate:-

CORRECTING THE RECORD

On this page, we set the record straight to correct any inaccuracies in media reporting of DMO issues.

The Facts

16 August 2007

The Story: Today’s edition of the Courier Mail features an article by Mr Ian McPhedran titled ‘Helicopter ship ban: No-flight deck cost $8m.’ Mr McPhedran claims helicopters have been banned from using the flight deck fitted to the Navy’s replenishment ship HMAS Sirius.

The Facts: Aviation modifications were carried out on HMAS Sirius to provide a Vertical Replenishment (VERTREP) capability. This VERTREP capability involves a helicopter hovering over the ship’s deck to transfer underslung loads, typically pallets of stores or food. The modification also provides a transfer capability which allows the ability to transfer persons or equipment by the helicopter’s winch. The aviation flight deck modifications were designed to accommodate naval helicopter landings in the event of an emergency only, not as part of normal operations.

Source Department of Defence DMO.