River Class Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs)

HM Ships Tyne, Mersey and Severn will replace the five Island Class Offshore Patrol Vessels. As fishery protection vessels, they will patrol the 200 mile fishing limit around the British coastline to ensure that UK and EU and regulations (such as limits on net sizes and catch rates) are adhered to and they will also mediate disputes between fishermen of different nationalities. The River Class will also be able to perform other duties such as patrolling North Sea Oil and Gas fields, assisting HM Customs & Excise, guarding against pollution and environmental threats to the sea, undertaking scientific and marine studies and assisting vessels or persons in distress.

[Programme History] [Specification & Features] [Pictures]

Seven Island Class Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs) were built by Hall Russel of Aberdeen between 1975 and 1979 and they have since formed the backbone of the Fishery Protection Squadron (FPS).

As part of the Government’s wide ranging Strategic Defence Review (SDR) of 1998, the future of the Fishery Protection Squadron came under close examination. HMS Jersey had been withdrawn from service in 1993, and the remaining six vessels were nearly 20 years old. In the short term, the Review highlighted reduced commitments in Scottish waters and earmarked HMS Orkney for disposal, while in the longer term the Review pledged "the future of the Squadron will be reviewed as the Island Class vessels approach the end of their lives from 2007 onwards".

On December 12th 2000 the Ministry of Defence (MoD) invited eight UK shipbuilders, ship repairers and marine service providers to tender for the potential supply of a force of patrol vessels. The companies chosen were:

• Appledore Shipbuilders Ltd (Appledore, North Devon)
• Babcock Engineering Services Ltd (Fife, Scotland)
• BAE Systems Land & Sea Systems (Farnborough)
• DML Devonport Royal Dockyard Ltd. (Plymouth)
• Ferguson Shipbuilders Ltd. (Port Glasgow)
• Seascope Offshore (London)
• Swan Hunter Ltd. (Newcastle-Upon-Tyne)
• Vosper Thornycroft (UK) Ltd. (Southampton)

The MoD were looking to acquire the new ships through a partnering arrangement with industry, in an effort to reduce costs and it soon emerged that they were prepared to consider tenders that involved alternatives to building new vessels. The most controversial suggestion was that of leasing commercially owned trawlers and converting them for naval use. This would reduce costs and enable a speedy entry into service. Whilst the MoD claimed it was investigating all options in order to provide a better service for less money, the notion of using ‘second hand vessels’ came under heavy criticism in the press and by the Opposition.

February 8th 2001 saw the deadline for the submission of bids. Southampton based shipbuilders Vosper Thornycroft were widely tipped to win a significant share of the work. A serious gap had appeared in the company’s order book between the completion of the last Sandown Class minehunter and the beginning of work on the Type 45 project and they had warned that unless they secured new orders, redundancies would follow.

During a visit to Vosper Thornycroft’s Woolston shipyard on March 16th 2001, Defence Procurement Minister Baroness Symons announced that the company had been selected as the preferred bidder for a £60 million contract to build three patrol vessels.

The contract itself was awarded to Vosper Thornycroft on May 8th 2001 and it was announced the three vessels concerned would be named Tyne, Severn and Mersey and would be known as the ‘River Class’.

The contract offers Vosper Thornycroft’s Woolston shipyard a short term lifeline, safeguarding some 450 jobs. Under the terms of the contract, all three ships will be built by Vosper Thornycroft at their Woolston shipyard and then leased to the Ministry of Defence (MoD) for a period of five years. During this time the ships will be manned by the Royal Navy, but Vosper Thornycroft will be responsible for providing logistical support. After the initial five year lease ends, the MoD has the option to purchase the vessels outright, return them to Vosper Thornycroft or extend the lease. The contract also requires Vosper Thornycroft to support the Island Class vessels whilst they remain in service. While the MoD regularly leases ships for support and training, it is believed this is the first occasion the MoD has leased warships in recent times.

The Ministry of Defence believes the Future Offshore Patrol Vessel (FOPV) is a good example of "Smart Procurement" in action. The Smart Acquisition programme is driven by the need to search for and find new ways of procuring better military equipment quickly and at lower coast:

• Value for money was one of the key factors in the development of the project . The Vosper Thornycroft proposal is expected to generate savings estimated at £10 million compared with the costs of supporting the existing Island Class.
• The Future Offshore Patrol Vessel (FOPV) project embodies sharper timescales from the issue of Invitations to Tender by MoD in December 2000 to receipt of innovative bids from industry and announcement of preferred bidder– all achieved in a little over three months.
• The FOPV project is being run on a whole life approach. The planned lease of the ships is being managed by the Defence Procurement Agency’s (DPA) Future Surface Combatant project team, on behalf of the Defence Logistics Organisation, Commander in Chief Fleet and the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food

The first vessel is expected in service late 2002 and the remaining two ships will follow at intervals of six months. Once in service they will based at Portsmouth.

Work on HMS Tyne commenced in September 2001 when the first 50-tonne block, which forms a lower section of the central hull, was moved into position at Vosper Thornycroft's Woolston shipyard.

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The River Class will be available for patrol duty for twice as many days a year than the Island Class and it is therefore claimed that this enables the three new ships to carry out the same tasks as the five vessels they replace.

In order to maximise the availability of the new ships, the MOD is planning to draw each ship’s company of about 30 personnel from a pool of about 45 men and women allocated to each ship. Additional crew members would be based ashore until called forward to relieve personnel on the ship in order to meet the Royal Navy’s requirements on "harmony rules", which guarantee seagoing personnel a proportion of each year on shore. This method of maximising availability of surface ships for duty at sea was first used successfully with the survey vessel HMS Scott.

The ships will have accommodation to a very high standard with all officers and senior ratings having individual cabins and en-suite facilities. Junior ratings will have twin cabins with en-suite facilities. All accommodation will be capable of use by either male of female personnel.

The latest maritime safety standards have been used in the design of the ships and the vessels conform with all the latest environmental standards.

The new River Class Offshore Patrol Vessels will represent a major improvement in capability over the existing Island Class patrol vessels.

Vosper Thornycroft believe that there are already signs of strong interest in the design from overseas and have produced an export version.

The Export Version:

• The export version of the design is equipped with all the features necessary to carry out effective EEZ management, including the ability to accommodate facilities to assist civilian authorities in case of natural disaster.
• The design has the flexibility to increase the overall length by means of a midship section to accommodate additional crew, facilities and/or equipment. By making special provision to put the ship's propulsion and electrical machinery aft and all the normal crew accommodation in the forward section, this can be done without any significant re-design.
• Measures have been taken to simplify construction, facilitating in-country build for those countries with either an established or developing shipbuilding capability.
• In operational terms, one of the major innovations is a large working cargo deck that permits users to equip the ship with specific facilities for a particular role, including disaster relief, anti-pollution, firefighting, rescue work or interception. A heavy crane with capacity for 25 tonnes is therefore fitted to handle standard containers. This working deck is also large enough to transport smaller craft such as oil spill recovery tractors, the Halmatic VSV (for special forces), an LCVP (for transhipment of cargo inland by river) and a variety of wheeled and tracked light vehicles.
• The design includes a flight deck for land based small/medium helicopters and aviation facilities can be enhanced to handle larger helicopters or to provide storage and maintenance facilities for helicopters.

VT Director of Export Ship Sales, Jon Beadon, comments "The commitment of the Royal Navy to this new Class of offshore patrol vessel has increased the interest from overseas. The flexibility of this design means that we can tailor it to the requirements of individual users whilst still ensuring that it is affordable."

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Above: The first hull block of HMS Tyne is moved into position at Vosper Thornycroft's Woolston shipyard. © Vosper Thornycroft.

Above: A computer impression of the River Class Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV). © Vosper Thornycroft.

Above: A computer impression of the River Class Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV). © Vosper Thornycroft.

Above: A computer impression of the River Class Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV). © Vosper Thornycroft.

Above: An artist's impression of an early patrol vessel design by Vosper Thornycroft. Notice the flight deck and hanger. © Vosper Thornycroft.

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