Royal Navy orders four 37.000 tons tankers to support renewed surface fleet and attack submarines
A new generation of 37.000-tons tankers has been ordered for the Royal Navy fleet, the MoD announced Wednesday. The new Military Afloat Reach and Sustainability (MARS) tankers will maintain the Royal Navy’s ability to refuel at sea and will provide fuel to warships and task groups.
They will support deployed amphibious, land and air forces close to the shore, will be able to operate helicopters and are planned to enter service from 2016, replacing existing Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) single hulled tankers.
At over 200 metres long, the four tankers will be approximately the same length as 14 double-deck buses and can pump enough fuel to fill two Olympic sized swimming pools in an hour.
Minister for Defence Equipment Support and Technology, Peter Luff, announced that Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) is the Government’s preferred bidder for the deal. This represents the best value for taxpayers’ money, with £452 million to be spent on the four new vessels to support the Royal Navy on operations around the world.
A number of British companies took part in the competition, but none submitted a final bid for the build contract. In light of this, the best option for Defence and value for money for taxpayers is for the tankers to be constructed in South Korea by DSME.
However UK companies will however benefit from £150m of associated contracts comprising: £90m on UK contracts for the provision of key equipment, systems, design and support services. The winning design is being provided by UK company BMT Defence Services; £60m investment in the UK from customisation, trials and specialist engineering support.
The tankers are part of a multi-billion pound investment program for the Royal Navy, which includes Type 45 destroyers, Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers and Astute Class attack submarines, employing thousands of people in the UK.
Minister for Defence Equipment, Support and Technology, Peter Luff, said that “over the next decade, the Government will be investing billions of pounds in our Maritime capabilities to ensure that our Royal Navy remains a formidable fighting force. This project will inject up to £150 million into UK industry and support and maintenance will also be carried out in the UK. The Government remains committed to building complex warships in UK shipyards”.
Commenting on the project Commodore Bill Walworth, Head of the RFA, said “we are delighted the RFA will be able to operate these world class vessels. These fleet replenishment tankers will be flexible ships, able to operate with the Royal Navy and Armed Forces in conflict, and are designed to allow for upgrades and emerging technologies meaning that they have been designed with the future in mind”.
Chief of Defence Materiel, Bernard Gray pointed out that “the competition for the contract sought to engage shipbuilders from across the globe. I believe the winning bidder's solution will offer the UK the best value for money. The MARS tanker is an exceptionally versatile platform; able to simultaneously refuel an aircraft carrier and destroyer whilst undertaking helicopter re-supply of other vessels. I am looking forward to the award of the contract and the work that will follow in the lead up to the delivery of the ship”
Suggested Stories
-
May 25th 2012
Cameron pays tribute to Falklands’ conflict dead and reaffirms Islanders right to self determination
-
May 25th 2012
Paraguay proposes India long-term plan to exchange food for investments and technology
-
May 25th 2012
UK reassures support for Gibraltar after major incident with Spain in the Rock’s waters
-
May 25th 2012
UK deeper in recession; IMF recommends more stimuli measures
17 comments Feed
Note: Comments do not reflect MercoPress’ opinions. They are the personal view of our users. We wish to keep this as open and unregulated as possible. However, rude or foul language, discriminative comments (based on ethnicity, religion, gender, nationality, sexual orientation or the sort), spamming or any other offensive or inappropriate behaviour will not be tolerated. Please report any inadequate posts to the editor. Comments must be in English. Thank you.
Philippe
That's nothing to do with leadership, that's a societal issue.
Also with a lot of Royal Navy ship building going on some suppliers could not fulfill orders so another source mentioned.
I wonder what’s new in the argentine locker,, after all they are growing at a great rate , are they not,
Or will they stick to the yellow sub in the bath, in case its provocative lol.
.
We need to compete with places like Germany, Japan, Switzerland and South Korea, and so we need educated people who can make new interesting things to sell. We currently have about 4 engineers, who probably work in Tesco. No engineers stay in the UK or stay in engineering after Uni, they all go to switzerland and earn 4 times the amount. Economically, this is a big big problem. You complain about UK not making the boats, but who exactly is going to make the boats? A soccer star?
I agree though that Argentina in comparison is a crying child cr@pping in their own pants, while it retains Peronism.
None of the other British company's thought they could handle the deal, therefore didn't finalize the deal. So it was sent elsewhere.
But delays over runs, expenses interest and other things, means we get them ten years late, and out of date, and vastly to expensive
If you look at the carrier and astute sites, they are already years late, and the cost is rising,
Mind to it does not help with the government deliberately delaying them all the time,
And wasting billions.
mr Cameron has been asked to bring the type 26, on line in 2012, instead of a 2013 start date, but he wont,, the likes of him that are causing our shipping to be dragged down,
but again I suspect a higher authority who has a bigger interest .??
What with the Argies with there rocks,
What is this world coming to .
This work was very lucrative but kept me away from my home and family and I missed out on them growing up more than I wanted to.
My wife and I now live in Uruguay but we still have to pay taxes to the UK on our retirement pensions and other reasons.
But at least we are out from under the laughable engineering disaster in the UK. 7 GreekYoghurt is closer than he knows with his comments.
I used to be so proud of Britain until all the do-gooders and PC brigade banned common sense and self-reliancy. And New Labours multi-culturism leading to British born citizens of Asian origin and Muslim tendancy trying to kill 'all the infidels' aka the white Brits.
Best of luck folks.
yesterday firemen refused to enter a pond 3ft deep as it was dangerouse, and they were not trained, p/c is a joke, the ECHR is a joke,
the british are being stripped of there own rights and customs to suit others .
just my opinion .
Commenting for this story is now closed.
If you have a Facebook account, become a fan and comment on our Facebook Page!