(July 10th 2001)
News Welcomed by Vosper Thornycroft
News of the revised Type 45 construction strategy was welcomed by Southampton based shipbuilders Vosper Thornycroft.
Under original plans Vosper were to have shared construction with the prime contractor BAE and were allocated construction of the second ship, HMS Dauntless. This had allowed them to contemplate moving their main shipbuilding plant from Woolston in Southampton, to Portsmouth Dockyard. However, these plans were thrown into doubt when it emerged BAE had approached the Ministry of Defence (MoD) with the intention of constructing all twelve vessels.
Under the revised strategy Vosper will now be involved in constructing sections of all twelve ships and this guarantee of work will allow the move to Portsmouth to proceed.
The naval base repair organisation, Fleet Support Limited (FSL), has already begun to relocate in the dockyard in order to create room for Vosper, and this autumn construction will begin on two new shipbuilding sheds. These will be completed by 2003 and work can then begin on the bow, mast and funnel sections of HMS Daring.
The revival of shipbuilding in Portsmouth will create hundreds of new jobs for the city while the Type 45 programme will guarantee work for over a decade. With expanded and updated facilities, Vosper believes it will be well placed in the future to bid for work on other programmes such as the Future Surface Combatant.