Merseyside’s famous shipyard is in line for a lucrative MoD deal. Neil Hodgson looks at the potential for the resurgent operation
BIRKENHEAD’S Cammell Laird shipyard is poised for a jobs bonanza linked to a £150m Ministry of Defence contract.
The yard has been named joint preferred bidder for work on two of the biggest Royal Navy vessels to be built.
Cammell Laird and the Teesside yard of A&P are in final negotiations with the MoD to build the flight decks of the UK’s two Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers, HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales, expected to enter service around 2016 and 2018.
A variety of UK shipyards has won contracts to construct parts of the vessels and work on cutting the first steel for the carriers in Glasgow is expected to start as early as this June.
Cammell Laird chief executive John Syvret said the announcement was a tremendous boost for the yard, and it would now enter commercial discussions to finalise the deal.
“This shipyard has an immensely proud history of building Royal Navy aircraft carriers, including two Ark Royals.
“Being awarded preferred bidder status is a major endorsement of the skills and expertise we have worked so hard to rebuild here over the past eight years. If we do win this contract, it will safeguard and generate jobs for local people and work for local businesses.”
Mr Syvret said the yard plans to use its giant shipbuilding hall, which is the biggest of its kind in Europe, to work on the aircraft carrier projects.
He said that, once complete, the flight decks were likely to be transported from the hall to the river’s edge and lifted onto barges to be sailed up to Rosyth, in Scotland, where both vessels will be assembled.
He added: “This is clearly very positive.
“We need to analyse what the full extent of this is. It is preferred bidder status which basically means we are down with A&P to final discussions concerning the blocks we tendered for, which is fantastic news.”
The Alliance Management Board of the Aircraft Carrier Alliance (ACA) announced Laird’s involvement in the project in a rescheduled programme due to budget pressures on the MoD.
Originally, the 65,000-tonne vessels were due to enter service by 2014 and 2016.
Geoff Searle, programme director for the Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers, said: “The ACA has developed a cost- effective and low-risk build strategy that I am confident will deliver the two carriers in line with the MoD’s requirements. It will also ensure that we retain the essential core skills in the UK maritime industry to deliver sovereign naval capability long into the future.
“I am delighted that we have also been able to announce that both the North-East and North-West regions, with their traditional shipbuilding heritage, will contribute to the build of these great ships.”
