UK shipyards land Royal Navy contracts worth £1bn
- Published
The deal includes work on 17 ships including RFA tankers, landing ships, a casualty ship and two survey ships
Royal Navy contracts expected to be worth more than £1bn have been awarded to three UK shipyards.
Defence Minister Stuart Andrew announced the deals covering 17 ships to support marine services jobs in Birkenhead, Falmouth and Tyneside.
The successful companies will service and fit the ships with the latest equipment and systems, he said.
Cammell Laird is set to receive £620m to support Royal Fleet Auxiliary tankers and £240m to A&P in Falmouth.
A further £150m has been earmarked for UK Docks in Tyneside to support two survey ships and an ice patrol vessel.
Chief executive of the Merseyside ship building and repair yard, John Kennedy, said winning two 10-year contracts was a "massive boost".
The deal will create more than 100 apprenticeships at the Birkenhead shipyard
"This is tremendous news for everyone involved in Cammell Laird and all the organisations and people who support our vision to bring a renaissance of ship repair and ship building to Merseyside and the UK."
He added that the new deal would sustain 300 jobs and create more than 100 apprenticeships.
Mr Andrew said: "This £1bn deal secures work for some of our world-leading shipyards into the next decade, supporting over 700 jobs for workers to ensure our ships remain at sea to defend the nation."
Cammell Laird said winning the contracts was a "massive boost" for the shipyard
The Navy contracts announced include:
£357m with Cammell Laird in Birkenhead to support RFA's Fort and Wave class tankers
£262m, also with Cammell Laird, to support RFA's new fleet of four 39,000-tonne Tide class tankers
£239m with A&P in Falmouth to support the RFA's Bay class landing ships, casualty ship RFA Argus and Royal Navy ocean survey vessel HMS Scott
£150m with UK Docks Ltd in South Shields to support survey ships HMS Echo and Enterprise along with the ice patrol ship HMS Protector