A SHIPBUILDING programme suspended by the Ministry of Defence is to restart after contract notices were published.
Defence industry platform Shephard Media broke the news about the delayed Type-31e frigate programme after MoD notices were released.
The advert states that the MOD is seeking to procure five new general purpose frigates for the Royal Navy for £1.25 billion to “provide an enduring and continuous worldwide maritime security presence in forward operating areas and releasing other, more complex warships to their primary roles”. The process was put on hold earlier this summer due to a lack of “compliant” bids, provoking fierce criticism from shipbuilding unions and politicians.
When that news broke, specialist journal UKDJ reported comments from an anonymous MoD source, who stated that cost was an “issue”.
A report stated: “The reset button has essentially been pressed in order for the designs put forward to be worked on in the hope they can be made cheaper while still being credible platforms.
“The project hasn’t been cancelled, it’s being effectively restarted with both eyes on cost.”
Workers’ representatives said the scheme could have secured orders for the Clyde, Rosyth and other UK yards.
Discussing the impact of the suspension, Ross Murdoch of GMB stated: “This is a real body blow to many shipbuilding workers and their families the length and breadth of the UK.
“Some are already seeing significant redundancies as the carrier programme runs down, while others are in shipyards with a distinct lack of future orders meaning they will see nothing but a gloomy future ahead.
“Depending on which consortium would have been successful, these ships potentially could have brought work in Scotland on the Clyde and at Rosyth, to yards in Devon and Cornwall, to Liverpool, Belfast and potentially other areas.”
Glasgow North East MP Paul Sweeney, who previously worked in shipbuilding, called on the MoD to give the industry “confidence” and cast serious doubt on the budget for the project.
Responding to the latest development, he said: “The same fundamental issue hasn’t been addressed and will therefore lead to the same outcome – a platform that doesn’t meet the cost target or the performance target. This competition won’t deliver value as there is no certainty for industry to invest in people or infrastructure.”
The adverts specify that the MoD wants to stick to the timetable established for the Type-31e roll-out, with the first entering service in 2023 and the last doing so five years later.
It is thought that some of the order could be completed by Port Glasgow yard Ferguson Marine, with other work carried out at Rosyth, North Devon and Belfast under a distributed build and assembly approach.
This is under plans drawn up by Babcock.
Meanwhile, a competing proposal by BAE Systems – which has two Clyde yards in Glasgow – could see it collaborate with Cammell Laird to build the warships at the latter’s Merseyside facility.
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