UK Increases Royal Navy Spending By £7.5 Billion Over Next Decade

The UK Ministry of Defence has issued an update to the “Defence Equipment Plan” for the years 2021-2031. The new update projected a significant increase in naval spending over the next ten years.

In accordance with the “Global Britain” policy, the UK government has already signaled its desire for a more capable Royal Navy with the Integrated Review 2021, which was published in March 2021.

The following are the most important remarks about the Royal Navy’s 10-year defense equipment plan:

-Planning to spend £38.1 billion in the equipment plan over the next ten years compared to £30.6 billion at the end of the previous planning period.

– Investing in a new lightweight torpedo for the Royal Navy ships and aircraft to replace current Stingray weapon.

-Procuring a highly capable ship to ship missile to replace current Harpoon missile system which will go out of service in 2023.

-Additional investment for the Merlin helicopters to be extended in service from 2029 until 2040.

-Having world-leading autonomous minehunting capability to replace legacy platforms.

-Increasing the capability and size of the Royal Navy’s surface fleet and allow the development of three Fleet Solid Support Ships, a Multi-Role Ocean Surveillance Capability, Multi-Role Support Ships and Type 31 and Type 32 frigates.

-Extending the life of three of the Royal Navy’s most recently refitted ships, with two of our oldest Type 23 Frigates being taken out of service.

-Launching the UK-designed cutting-edge Type 26 Anti-Submarine Warfare frigates alongside Canada and Australia

-Investing in missile and sensor upgrades for the Type 45 Sea Viper system, in directed energy weapons and in our test and evaluation capabilities.

The construction of the new National Flagship, announced by the UK Prime Minister on 30 May 2021, will be delivered by the Department of Defence but is not included in the document’s costings.

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KAEFER Se­cure Five Ship Deal with Bab­cock to Provide Sur­face Pro­tec­tion Mar­ine Coat­ings

KAEFER UK & Ireland has se­cured a long-term, £22m con­tract with Bab­cock to provide tech­nical sur­face pro­tec­tion to the Royal Navy new­est frig­ate, the Type 31.

The ship­build­ing pro­gramme which will con­tinue un­til 2028, brings con­tinu­ity of work for KAE­FER’s ex­ist­ing in­dus­trial ser­vices work­force at Babcock International Group Rosyth fa­cil­it­ies, with new em­ploy­ment op­por­tun­it­ies and prosper­ity for the local eco­nomy.

KAEFER will ap­ply over 510,000m2of spe­cial­ist paint coat­ings, provid­ing skilled jobs for an ad­di­tional 70 paint­ers and sup­port staff.

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Hellenic Cables becomes the exclusive array cable supplier for the world’s largest offshore wind farm

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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Diverse Marine to build third Chartwell 24 & New Vessel for Caister Volunteer Lifeboat Service

Diverse Marine Ltd has announced that HST Marine (HST) have signed a contract for a third Chartwell Marine Ltd designed Chartwell 24. The new vessel will be a sister to the delivered HST Ella and in build HST Frances.

This follows last week announcement by CAISTER VOLUNTEER LIFEBOAT SERVICE LIMITED that it has signed a new vessel construction agreement with the shipbuilder for a first of class 14-meter Medina Class Lifeboat. 

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Northern Irish engineering company announces pipeline of multi-million pound global contracts

Northern Irish engineering company DECOM Engineering has announced that it has secured a pipeline of multi-million pound global contracts.

The announcement comes after the business raised follow-on investment from Co Fund NI and HBAN (Halo Business Angel Network), which will fund operations over the course of the next 14 months, including projects in Thailand, Malaysia and Canada.

The company, which recently opened a base in Aberdeen, has developed world first technologies in pipe cutting and coating removal which provide greener, faster and safer solutions for decommissioning in the energy sector.

Decom Engineering has previously secured £2m of investment from Co Fund NI, HBAN and private investors. By investing over £700,000 in R&D, and with R&D support from Invest Northern Ireland, it has developed innovative new technologies and products to replace the traditional pipe cutting and coating removals processes, saving time and reducing waste and CO2 emissions during the decommissioning of old oil and gas plants and pipelines.

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Maritime rope could be adding billions of microplastics to the ocean every year

The hauling of rope on maritime vessels could result in billions of microplastic fragments entering the ocean every year, according to new research.

The study, by the University of Plymouth‘s International Marine Litter Research Unit, is the first to explore the potential for rope to become a source of microplastic pollution in the marine environment.

It compared a variety of synthetic ropes commonly used in the maritime industry—but differing in age, wear surface and material—to assess the quantity and characterizes of microplastics produced while they were in use.

This was achieved by simulating, in both laboratory and field experiments, the rope hauling activity which is typically performed on board maritime vessels such as fishing boats.

The results show that new and one-year old ropes can release around 20 microplastic fragments into the ocean for every meter hauled.

However, as the rope gets older it can release significantly more fragments—two-year-old ropes shed on average around 720 fragments per meter, while 10-year-old rope releases more than 760 fragments per meter.

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DP World to invest £300 m in new fourth berth at London Gateway

DP World has announced that it will begin work next month on a new fourth berth at its London Gateway logistics hub to increase supply chain resilience and create more capacity for the world’s largest vessels.

The £300m sum – which builds on the £2bn investment DP World has made in Britain over the last decade – represents the next step by the leading global provider of smart logistics in delivering integrated supply chain solutions for customers.

In the first six months of 2021 London Gateway saw record throughput of 888,000 TEU, a more than 23 per cent increase on the previous best performance for the first half of a year. The new fourth berth will raise capacity by a third and completion will coincide with the delivery of a new wave of 24,000 TEU vessels in 2023/2024, which will all be operated between Asia and Europe. 

Along with the Port of Tilbury London Ltd Forth Ports Limited and Ford UK’s Dagenham plant, DP World London Gateway will form Thames Freeport after being awarded freeport status by the Government earlier this year.

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UK, US and Australia launch defence and security partnership

The UK, the US and Australia have formed a defence and security partnership to further improve joint development capabilities and technology sharing.

Known as ‘AUKUS’, the collaboration will encourage deeper security and defence-related science, technology, industrial bases and supply chains integration.

The new security pact looks like being good news for British defence contractors.

Boris Johnson mentioned, early in his statement, the benefits for the UK economy.

Mr Johnson said the pact would create “hundreds of highly skilled jobs across the United Kingdom – including in Scotland, the North of England and the Midlands – taking forward this government’s driving purpose of levelling up across the whole country.”

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Design work begins on successor to Astute-class submarines in £170m deal

The first work has begun on a successor to the Submarine Service’s cutting-edge hunter-killer force – even before all the current boats have been delivered to the Royal Navy.

BAE Systems and Rolls-Royce have each been given £85m to start thinking about the design and capabilities of a new class of submarine which will eventually take over from the Astute class.

Over the next three years 350 designers, engineers and shipwrights – 250 in the North-West and 100 in the Midlands – will carry out design and concept work, work which will help Whitehall determine how it replaces the Astutes when they begin to reach the end of their active careers.

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Plymouth to host UK’s first charging network for electric maritime vessels

Plymouth is set to become the first city in the UK to install a network of shore-side charging facilities for its expanding fleet of electric maritime vessels.

Over the past year, the city has become home to the UK’s first marine electric passenger ferry and an electric water taxi that will operate 364 days a year.

However, access to infrastructure is currently a barrier to ensuring further growth in this emerging sector can happen in a coordinated and sustainable way.

With that in mind, a consortium of city partners is joining forces to create Plymouth’s Marine e-Charging Living Lab (MeLL), which will provide the pivotal infrastructure required to accelerate innovation and growth.

The project has received more than £570,000 funding as part of the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition, funded by the Department for Transport (DfT), United Kingdom and delivered in partnership with Innovate UK.

It will develop a network of charging facilities around Plymouth Sound, offering multiple, flexible sites and responding to the Maritime 2050 route map for maritime net zero.

The project is being led by the University of Plymouth in partnership with Plymouth City Council, Princess Yachts and Aqua superPower Limited

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