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Navantia UK has laid the keel of RFA Resurgent at its Appledore shipyard in North Devon, formally starting assembly of the first of three Fleet Solid Support ships for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. The milestone came with the lowering of the first block in Appledore’s dry dock and the placement of a commemorative coin beneath the section for good fortune.
Harland & Wolff has secured what Navantia UK called its largest investment in a cruise ship revitalisation project at the Belfast yard since acquisition. Margaritaville at Sea’s flagship Beachcomber will be transformed there, with the work expected to generate about £40 million for the Belfast region.
Navantia UK has taken on 21 new apprentices at its Methil yard, lifting the site total to 75. The intake forms part of 121 apprentices hired across the company this year, as Methil also works on the Navantia UK Seahorse and a new export vessel contract.
Navantia UK is investing £3.1 million to refurbish Harland & Wolff’s Samson and Goliath cranes in Belfast. The work will include engine overhauls, new catenary cables and structural and electrical repairs, with Goliath already under way before the refit moves to Samson.
Navantia UK has started recruiting 28 skilled workers for its Harland & Wolff shipyard in Belfast, including 21 welders, five platers and two pipefitters. The hires will support three 39,000-tonne Fleet Solid Support ships for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, with a further 66 apprentices due to start in September.
Navantia UK has delivered the 85-metre, 1,400-tonne transport barge Seahorse from its Methil yard. The vessel was delivered on budget and in eight months, and has now arrived at Appledore in North Devon to support build work on three Fleet Solid Support ships for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. Alexander Marine Design of Fife provided naval architecture and design support.
Rear Admiral Matthew Stratton visited Navantia UK’s Appledore yard in North Devon last week for an update on the Fleet Solid Support programme, the yard’s modernisation and the LASV75 concept. Appledore is building the bow sections of three Royal Fleet Auxiliary supply ships, with final assembly, systems integration and testing due in Belfast.
Chris McDonald MP visited Harland & Wolff in Belfast after the Government published its Defence Investment Plan and confirmed key naval programmes. Navantia UK said the Fleet Solid Support programme at the yard is on time and on budget, with three 39,000-tonne supply ships under construction for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary under the £1.6 billion contract.