MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

New £30M 'Falklands' Warship

VT Group plc has been awarded a contract by the Ministry of Defence for the construction of a new 80 metre Offshore Patrol Vessel (Helicopter) for the Royal Navy.

The contract was announced today by the Minister for Defence Procurement Lord Bach who was at Portsmouth dockyard to launch production of the third Type 45 Anit Air-Warfare Destroyer HMS Diamond.

Lord Bach said: "Today is a day of double celebration for Portsmouth and the Royal Navy.

"Through this contract, VT will build a new Offshore Patrol Vessel in Portsmouth that will ensure our Falklands Island patrol service remains strong and effective for years to come.

"The Type-45 programme meanwhile will provide Britain with the most advanced air destroyer fleet in the world, and it is a pleasure to get work officially under way on the third vessel in the programme, HMS Diamond. "Together with the hundreds already working on the Type 45 contract, this is excellent news for Portsmouth."

The ship will be built to VT's account, with production starting in June. She will be handed over to the Royal Navy in Autumn 2006, entering service, after the completion of trials, in Spring 2007. The ship will be chartered to the MoD for an initial period until March 2012.

The programme is expected to be worth an initial total of around £30 million, under a Public-Private Partnership arrangement, with the potential for this to increase if the charter is extended. Some 100 new jobs will be created by the programme and up to 400 existing jobs safeguarded.

The ship, based on the VT-built River Class which are currently under charter to the MoD, will replace the RN's two existing Castle Class offshore patrol vessels and will carry out the role of Falkland Islands Patrol Vessel.

She will be manned and operated by the Royal Navy but VT will be responsible for providing a full Contractor Logistics Support (CLS) service to maintain the vessel so that she is available for sea for more than 300 days a year. By utilising modern automated equipment and commercial maintenance practices, VT will guarantee the availability with a single ship, compared to the two currently needed to provide the same availability.

VT Chief Executive Paul Lester commented: "This contract strengthens VT's role as a leading provider of PPP/PFI solutions following the success of the River Class programme. The project will utilise excess capacity at our main shipbuilding facility, which already has a healthy order book through the Type 45 programme that stretches over the next four years."

The ?Batch 2' River Class design will be enhanced with a helicopter deck capable of accepting helicopters up to the size of the new Merlin aircraft, increased accommodation to cater for an embarked force, a bigger gun, higher levels of survivability and surveillance radar.