British firm Babcock International Group has won the Polish frigate competition. Poland has chosen the Type 31 Frigate design, known as ‘Arrowhead 140’, for their future frigate class.

The Type 31 frigate was designed by Babcock International and is also marketed under the name Arrowhead 140. The Babcock design is based on the hull of the Iver Huitfeldt-class frigate but with significant modifications and changes to suit British requirements.

Babcock International has been selected as the platform design provider and technology partner for Poland’s MIECZNIK (Swordfish) new frigate programme and has today concluded a set of strategic cooperation agreements with the PGZ-MIECZNIK Consortium, which is responsible for the delivery of the project from the Polish side.

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The Hunter Class Frigate Program has successfully held a major engineering review, which defines how the Australian Combat System integrates into the Global Combat Ship reference ship design.

The year-long System Definition Review (SDR), involving work by BAE Systems’ engineering teams in Australia and the UK, has established a new baseline design for the Hunter class frigate and builds on the sovereign complex warship design capability at South Australia’s Osborne Naval Shipyard.
 
The SDR is the second major evaluation of the ship’s design and demonstrates how it accommodates the range of capabilities required by the Australian Government , including the Aegis and Australian Interface Combat Management Systems, the CEAFAR2 phased array radar and integration of the Seahawk Romeo Maritime Combat Helicopter. These changes introduce significant leading edge combat system capability, ready to meet the Royal Australian Navy’s needs.
 
Only recently, BAE Systems transferred more than two million digital artefacts from the UK to Australia. The first prototyping unit has also recently been completed at the Osborne shipyard, underscoring the strong progress on the Hunter program.

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National Maritime is supporting the Innovate UK’s Global Business Innovation Programme (GBIP), delivered by Innovate UK EDGE. They are looking to recruit up to 15 high-growth innovative UK businesses in the Ocean Technology sector who are looking to expand overseas and collaborate with Canadian partners.

Focus Areas:

This new initiative is particularly aimed at businesses in the areas of:

• Aquaculture
• Fisheries
• Marine Energy
• Marine Environmental Monitoring
• Marine Net Zero
• Marine Observations
• Marine Robotics
• Marine Transportation
• Ocean Plastics

Key Technologies with marine applications including, but not limited to:

• Alternative Energy
• Aquaculture Systems
• Autonomous Vessels
• Fishery Processes and

Management

• Ocean Sensors
• Robotics and Drones
• Vessel Design and Manufacture

The Innovation Visit to Halifax, Nova Scotia, includes participation at Canada’s premier event for the ocean technology sector. The H2O: Home to Overseas Conference and Exhibition will include: the ocean industry showcase, UK pavilion presence, exclusive networking opportunities through pre-arranged B2B meetings with like-minded Canadian and international businesses, formal receptions, and the high-profile international Oceans Gala Dinner. This year’s conference will also include on-water demos at the Centre for Ocean Ventures & Entrepreneurship (COVE).

Hellenic Cables, the cable segment of Cenergy Holdings, has been awarded the Dogger Bank C array cable contract by DEME OFFSHORE SERVICES BV, the renewables business unit of DEME Group. Already the designated cables’ supplier for Dogger Bank A and B, with this contract Hellenic Cables becomes the sole inter-array cables’ supplier for the world’s largest offshore wind farm. 

Dogger Bank C is a joint venture between SSE Renewables and Equinor, while Dogger Bank A and B are owned by SSE Renewables, Equinor, and Eni. SSE Renewables is leading the construction and delivery of all three phases of Dogger Bank Wind Farm, while Equinor will operate Dogger Bank Wind Farm on completion.

Under the new contract, Hellenic Cables will design, manufacture, test, and supply approx. 240 km of 66 kV XLPE-insulated inter-array cables and associated accessories. This is in addition to 650 km of array cables already awarded for phases A & B. The cables will be produced at Hellenic Cables’ vertically integrated, state-of-the-art submarine cables plant in Corinth, Greece. Production of the cables for Dogger Bank C is set to begin in 2023 and delivery will be a phased roll out in line with the project execution program. 

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EU competition officials are preparing to block a $2bn merger between two of the world’s biggest shipbuilders in South Korea, the first time since 2019 that Brussels has decided to veto a corporate tie-up.

The veto will be the first by the EU’s competition authorities since Brussels prevented a tie-up between India’s Tata Steel and Germany’s Thyssenkrupp more than two years ago over concerns it would drive up prices for consumers.

The latest decision comes as energy prices have soared in Europe this winter, with freight costs for liquefied natural gas in Asia rising to record levels of more than $300,000 per day on surging global demand.

The two South Korean companies dominate the market for making ships that carry super-chilled LNG. One EU official said blocking the merger would help protect European consumers from paying higher prices for LNG, which emits less carbon dioxide than coal but is still a source of greenhouse gas emissions.

Ships carrying LNG to Asia have been rerouted to Europe, where consumers are willing to pay a premium for the fuel to generate electricity. The EU is the world’s third-largest importer of LNG.

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French shipbuilder Chantier Naval Couach – CNC launched this month the first of twelve 2200 FPB (Fast Patrol Boat) for the Royal Saudi Naval Force . The vessel is now conducting builder trials. These patrol boats will be tasked with sensitive infrastructures protection missions.

The ships, designed and built by Couach, will carry out missions to protect sensitive infrastructure, protect maritime borders and fight piracy and smuggling, once accepted by the customer.

The 2200 FPB is 22.35 meters long, 5.6 meters wide and has a draft of less than 1 meter. Its two 895 kW engines allow it to reach a speed of 30 knots, and a cruising speed of 15 knots, with a range of 600 nautical miles at 28 knots. The ship is equipped with a 20 mm remotely operated gun fitted forward, as well as a 12.7 mm machine gun aft. An external control station is also located on the ship.

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Our objective is to help drive trade and growth for us all.

National Maritime together with our SME Working Group champions Santander UK Corporate & Commercial Banco Santander and the UK India Business Council would like to invite you to this exclusive webinar on the India Maritime Defence Sector.

Date: 09 November 2021
Time:11:00 to12:30 BST

At the May 2021 Summit the Prime Ministers of India and UK set out a shared vision for the UK-India defence partnership and agreed to advance the relationship to a new level. Both governments have agreed Joint Statement and a 2030 Roadmap, which includes a Free Trade Agreement. This marks the beginning of a promising new era for UK-India research, capability and industrial collaboration on Indian combat air, maritime propulsion, space, cyber security and beyond.

As Defence is one of the four pillars of the Roadmap, we are bringing together sector experts and industry leaders to provide valuable insights and knowledge on this sector with focus on the Indian market.

This webinar is also supported by Make UK Defence, it aims to highlight opportunities in the Indian maritime defence supply chain for UK companies and to provide a briefing on the broad direction of the India-UK defence and maritime collaboration. Areas to be covered in the session would include  

>A briefing on the India UK bilateral relationship and recent reforms announced by India
>Current and Upcoming Opportunities in the India Maritime defence sector
>How UK companies can access these opportunities and procurement processes
>Export Finance and support channels via UKEF

Speakers

>Dominic Beales – First Secretary Defence and Security of India British High Commission, New Delhi;
>Commodore Bunty Sethi, Aerospace & Defence Director of UK India Business Council;
>Richard McCallum, Vice Chair of UK India Business Council;
>Chris Lynch, Director, Trade and Supply Chain Finance of Santander UK

Don’t miss the chance to hear from experts and leaders from the defence and marine sector.

Register Today

Babcock International Group the UK shipbuilder leading the construction of the new Type 31 frigate for the Royal Navy says it is pursuing five live campaigns to secure exports for the general-purpose warship.

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and Rolls-Royce signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) this week to establish a support system in India for the highly regarded Rolls-Royce MT30 marine engines.

The HAL-Rolls-Royce partnership will provide packaging, installation, marketing and services support for the MT30 engine, creating a business case for the Indian Navy to consider using the engine for powering and propelling its warships.

The Indian Navy, one of the world’s major warship builders, has not used the MT30 for even a single warship. Most Indian frigates and destroyers are propelled by Ukrainian Zorya turbines or by American General Electric LM-2500 gas turbines.

The UK Government Department for International Trade (DIT) has been actively lobbying New Delhi to power the Indian Navy’s second indigenous aircraft carrier (IAC-2), INS Vishal, with the MT30 engine.

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