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Navantia UK said it wants to lead delivery of the floating docks programme for submarine maintenance at HM Naval Base Clyde from its shipyards in Methil, Fife, and Belfast. The company backed the Chancellor’s multi-billion-pound investment in British shipbuilding and said the work would support thousands of skilled jobs across the UK supply chain.
Navantia UK has taken on 10 new apprentices at its Arnish yard on the Isle of Lewis. The intake comes after investment in facilities, equipment and skills at the site, which the company says now has a stronger role in specialist steel fabrication for energy work.
Navantia UK opened its Appledore shipyard to employees’ families and friends for a behind-the-scenes open day that included yard tours, a history talk and a virtual welding experience. The event came days after the keel laying of RFA Resurgent, the first of three Fleet Solid Support ships for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, as the yard continues a £15 million investment programme within a wider £157 million spend across four UK sites.
Harland & Wolff Belfast has welcomed 66 new apprentices as Navantia UK steps up investment at the yard. The recruits will train across shipbuilding and support roles while Belfast prepares to assemble, commission and deliver all three Royal Fleet Auxiliary Fleet Solid Support ships.
Harland & Wolff has completed installation of 11 cranes from County Down supplier Walter Watson Ltd as it prepares to build three Fleet Solid Support ships for the armed forces. The cranes cost £1.5 million and form part of a £98.5 million modernisation and recapitalisation of the Belfast yard under Navantia UK. The final unit, a 20-metre semi-Goliath gantry crane, was commissioned at the end of August.
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.